Netflix wants to reach 70 million subscribers by the end of 2015, adding an additional 13 million in 12 months. The ambitious goal follows several launches in Western Europe and South America, alongside Netflix’s saturation in the United States.
In January, Netflix reported 57 million subscribers in an investor’s call. Most of the subscribers, a large 43 million, are based in the US. The second largest region is the United Kingdom, where Netflix has five million subscribers.
Other countries like Canada, Brazil and Mexico are seeing strong results.
Asia is still a non factor in terms of subscribers, but with a planned launch in India next year, alongside talks to launch in China, Netflix is preparing to hit two of the largest countries in the world in terms of eyeballs.
Netflix might already have some fans in China, using VPNs and proxies to watch TV shows and movies. The company does not want to acknowledge these subscribers however, stating it does not have any users in China.
Hitting 70 million worldwide would put Netflix in the mix with big cable TV providers like HBO, AMC, CBS, BBC and NBC, all offering shows that are watched by tens of millions worldwide.
Even though Netflix does not have a hit show at the same scale of Game of Thrones, House of Cards and Orange is the New Black are both Internet sensations. It is not hard to see why millions are willing to pay £7.49 per month, when other services are charging double -- especially in the US -- to watch similar high quality content.
Netflix does have a problem with content outside the US, but CEO Reed Hastings is looking into a global standard for licensing from third-party studios. This would remove the current barrier forcing some users to change geo-location or use a VPN.
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