Netflix Cuts Customer Forecast By 1M

H

HardOCP News

[H] News
Joined
Dec 31, 1969
Messages
0
Netflix released a statement this morning stating that the company is cutting its 3Q subscriber estimates by one million. Good thing there wasn't any fallout over those price hikes. :rolleyes:

The uproar over Netflix’s new pricing structure appears to have been more than just talk, as the streaming movie and DVD-by-mail service has lowered its subscriber estimates for the third quarter by a total of one million people. In a statement released Thursday morning, the company says that it is lowering its estimate of streaming customers from 15 million to 14.8 million and of DVD customers from 15 million to 14.2 million by quarter’s end.
Click to expand...
 
haha-pics.jpg
 
Soon it's going to be a lot more than that if they keep going down this path... And if they dont find some way to replace they content they will be losing with the Starz deal, I foresee eminent failure.
 
Im still a pretty loyal Netflix customer. 15 bucks a month for pretty much unlimited media is a good deal. I dont blame them for raising their prices, the licensing fees from the studios are the real issue. I'd sooner get rid of cable before I got rid of netflix.
 
Anyone pissed at Netflix about the price hikes is just unreasonable.

We know Netflix is under incredible pressure from the content owners, and is having a terrible time getting the content they need at the prices people have become used to.

Netflix is forced to raise their prices to continue their service. no business can survive if they keep selling something for less than it costs them to deliver.

This doesn't mean there is not a reason to be pissed, there is. But as always the people to be pissed at are the greedy film studios and cable TV channels that own the content.

They are the greedy luddite bastards in all of this. Not Netflix.
 
eh. good business decision; double your prices and lose < 10% of your customers.
 
Out of 30 million customers they lost 1 million. Not very significant to netflix, especially if they are making more than that 3% base they lost in the price hikes.
 
More people just reduced their plans then get rid of the service it seems.
 
Zarathustra[H];1037755735 said:
Anyone pissed at Netflix about the price hikes is just unreasonable.

We know Netflix is under incredible pressure from the content owners, and is having a terrible time getting the content they need at the prices people have become used to.

Netflix is forced to raise their prices to continue their service. no business can survive if they keep selling something for less than it costs them to deliver.

This doesn't mean there is not a reason to be pissed, there is. But as always the people to be pissed at are the greedy film studios and cable TV channels that own the content.

They are the greedy luddite bastards in all of this. Not Netflix.
Click to expand...


With how businesses work I seriously doubt that if they all of a sudden started getting more revenue with the price hikes that they would start giving us more in return.

That's like trying to say companies that outsource their labor to India pass those savings on to the customers...
 
Devistater said:
Out of 30 million customers they lost 1 million. Not very significant to netflix, especially if they are making more than that 3% base they lost in the price hikes.
Click to expand...

Incorrect. They already had estimated how many they would lose for the price hikes. This is an additional 1Million than expected. Also, everyone here isn't factoring in the people who downgraded their service - and there were tons who got rid of their 1 DVD and just went with streaming only. I'm sure lots of people getting 3-5 DVDs at a time also downgraded as well.
 
People love to hate Netflix almost as much as they love to hate on Apple. Studios keep jacking up their fees, Netflix has to pass it on to the consumer, period. OMG HATE ON NETFLIX!!!
 
Yeah, I'm sure they're not releasing the number of people who dropped DVDs altogether. I've gone from 1 Bluray down to just streaming. I don't miss the unopened red envelope sitting on my coffee table for weeks at a time.
 
Chihlidog said:
Im still a pretty loyal Netflix customer. 15 bucks a month for pretty much unlimited media is a good deal. I dont blame them for raising their prices, the licensing fees from the studios are the real issue. I'd sooner get rid of cable before I got rid of netflix.
Click to expand...

This exactly, I get way more out of the $15/month I pay to Netlfix than I do the $70/month (not including internet) I pay to Charter for TV.
 
It's not so much the price that bothers me but their dwindling selection of streaming titles. The selection just seems to get worse and worse over time.
 
I'm pretty ambivalent. My wife and uncle are sold on the $7 streaming thing. They tell me the content is enormous. I'll keep my usenet subscription thanks.
 
CannibalTrout said:
With how businesses work I seriously doubt that if they all of a sudden started getting more revenue with the price hikes that they would start giving us more in return.

That's like trying to say companies that outsource their labor to India pass those savings on to the customers...
Click to expand...

Agreed.

Companies tend to charge what the market will bear for their product - not cost + %profit - as they should, as that's how supply and demand works.

If you find a market in which your costs are low, but the market will bear a high price, you'll likely benefit from it a lot at first, until others realize what you are doing and you get more competition.

In Netflix case, they started out with the price they thought would draw enough customers to make their service viable. And it did. Now with their costs rising, they see the need to raise their prices. They are going to be walking a fine line so that they don't raise their prices more than the market will bear. The nightmare situation for them is if the studios and other content owners only agree to license content at such high prices, that the market won't bear what Netflix would have to charge per customer in order to stay afloat.

That is a real danger.

There are a lot of greedy entertainment executives out there that would do ANYTHING to keep their aging distribution models (Theater + home sales + cable TV) alive, including artificially hiking licensing fees to streaming services in an attempt to kill them.

They don' really care that the customer wants easy stream able flat rate media that can be watched whenever they please, not at a time dictated by a cable provider that locks you intl paying for 700 shitty channels to get the one you want.

They are perfectly content to keep their aging distribution models as long as it makes them money, and they DON'T WANT TO CHANGE, cause change is scary.

That is, they don't care, as long as they can keep the end users from having a viable option. As soon as end users have a viable option and can leave them in the dust, they are screwed and they know it.

This is why they conspire to keep the likes of Netflix and Hulu Plus from succeeding.

I would bet a significant chunk of money on that there are brainstorming sessions out there on "How we can kill Netflix", even though this is the direction in which consumers want the market to go.
 
Zarathustra[H];1037755735 said:
Greedy film studios and cable TV channels.... are the greedy luddite bastards in all of this. Not Netflix.
Click to expand...

Yep. I agree, Netflix has little choice in this. But, people who dropped Netflix are still right in doing so. Even though Netflix is caught in the middle, if the content owners didn't face pressure, they'd raise prices even more.
 
Catboxer said:
Yeah, I'm sure they're not releasing the number of people who dropped DVDs altogether. I've gone from 1 Bluray down to just streaming. I don't miss the unopened red envelope sitting on my coffee table for weeks at a time.
Click to expand...

Same here.

Their recent price changes were only a price increase if you used both their physical media and streaming services. If you used only one, and adjusted your plan to mathc this when they split them up, the new pricing was actually cheaper.

I went from paying $8.99 per month for streaming and DVD plan, of which I never used the DVD plan. Now I pay $7.99 for a streaming only plan.

That's cheaper.

That being said, I am considering canceling it. I just don't use it enough for it to be worth it. I maybe watch two things on streaming netflix a month. at that rate, of $4 per use, I might was well rent at blockbuster (if you can even find one anymore) and get access to blurays and a wider selection of newer titles.
 
Zarathustra[H];1037755833 said:
That being said, I am considering canceling it. I just don't use it enough for it to be worth it. I maybe watch two things on streaming netflix a month. at that rate, of $4 per use, I might was well rent at blockbuster (if you can even find one anymore) and get access to blurays and a wider selection of newer titles.
Click to expand...

That's the thing. I am considering cancelling altogether and just use Amazon instant action and pay as i go.

Netflix raised their prices too harshly. If they would have just incremented the price each year by $0.50, i probably wouldn't even be thinking about it.
 
Does NetFlix even have a chance to survive? I don't know if anyone else has noted, but most popular channels are distributing free apps to watch their content on IOS and Android devices.

If the channels themselves provide better, more complete streaming than NetFlix does for free, then I don't see how they do have a chance.

NeFlix screwed up a long time ago. It all started with that 28 delay agreement. NetFlix handed over it's Balls at that point, and the media moguls have been tugging on them every since. Smart move dummies. Instead of getting more content, you've gotten less.

And raising prices for less content is not the way to stay in business.

I'm calling it now. NetFlix is doomed.
 
Zarathustra[H];1037755735 said:
Anyone pissed at Netflix about the price hikes is just unreasonable.
Click to expand...
Sure. When of the 40 DVD's on my queue have 5 that are streaming I should just keep paying the higher cost for something I don't use. That is so unreasonable. :rolleyes:
 
Zarathustra[H];1037755735 said:
Anyone pissed at Netflix about the price hikes is just unreasonable.

We know Netflix is under incredible pressure from the content owners, and is having a terrible time getting the content they need at the prices people have become used to.

Netflix is forced to raise their prices to continue their service. no business can survive if they keep selling something for less than it costs them to deliver.

This doesn't mean there is not a reason to be pissed, there is. But as always the people to be pissed at are the greedy film studios and cable TV channels that own the content.

They are the greedy luddite bastards in all of this. Not Netflix.
Click to expand...

using logic in a forum is like pissing on a tree in a forrest fire, you saved one tree, but the fire will eventally grow and consume it again.. All these bitchers think $8 for alot of content will love paying ofr it piecemeal on 10 providers when they all start.

HBO-go (free if you have $10 HBO) +$10
Showtime( on Netflix now) new service +$6
Stars (free till Feb on netflix) + $6
CBS-NBC-ABC(on Netflix) etc.. each one will be +$2-5
AMC +$5
TBS +$5
HULU Plus $8 (same as netflix with lots less content)
etc.. etc.. etc..

wow steraming just turneing into CABLE, instead of one good one for $8 now we have piecemeal for $100+ yep.. great deal...
 
the only thing i dont like about netflix is their new interface, where you are only allow 75 views per category. i like the old one that had the main category and sub-category. in order for you to watch more than 75 they offer you have to go to your computer and put the ones you like on the instant que, which sucks big time. if this new interface continues then i will have to cancel my acct. price doesnt affect me as its cheaper to have netflix than to rent dvd's all the time. so ya netflix change your interface to the old one and you will have one subscriber in place.
 
it doesn't matter if the profit is $1M or $1B, constant profit is not enough according to most company today, they want growth. That is whats wrong in the world, greed.
 
clok1966 said:
HBO-go (free if you have $10 HBO) +$10
Showtime( on Netflix now) new service +$6
Stars (free till Feb on netflix) + $6
CBS-NBC-ABC(on Netflix) etc.. each one will be +$2-5
AMC +$5
TBS +$5
HULU Plus $8 (same as netflix with lots less content)
etc.. etc.. etc..

wow steraming just turneing into CABLE, instead of one good one for $8 now we have piecemeal for $100+ yep.. great deal...
Click to expand...

This fragmentation is exactly what I am concerned about.
 
We're sticking it out now, I agree that even at $15 it's still a better deal than cable for how much video my family consumes. Once starz is gone, though, they only have a few months to come up with new streaming content or I'll downgrade or cancel.

That said, unless there is some radical business thinking going on at Netflix, their best days are now behind them. The losses are piling up, and will likely only get worse from here. They scored a coup early on by grabbing content on the cheap and bringing a revolutionary video model to the masses, but everyone else has wised-up and joined the game.
 
scout007 said:
it doesn't matter if the profit is $1M or $1B, constant profit is not enough according to most company today, they want growth. That is whats wrong in the world, greed.
Click to expand...

Would you be satisfied making $30k per year for the rest of your life?
 
Canmanone, what netflix interface are you referring to? The website?
 
I'm canceling because I was content with my use per $ ratio. I occasionally streamed and I occasionally watched a blu ray. That was fine at the $10 price point. Not at the $16 plus tax price point, so it's done.
 
canmanone said:
the only thing i dont like about netflix is their new interface, where you are only allow 75 views per category. i like the old one that had the main category and sub-category. in order for you to watch more than 75 they offer you have to go to your computer and put the ones you like on the instant que, which sucks big time. if this new interface continues then i will have to cancel my acct. price doesnt affect me as its cheaper to have netflix than to rent dvd's all the time. so ya netflix change your interface to the old one and you will have one subscriber in place.
Click to expand...

^^ This...

That is the only complaint I have about netflix, being non-american, but paying for a US streaming account (haha much nicer having 10x the content of other canadian suckers) my price hasn't gone up or down. I would love to see a better menu system, something with more then the 75 shows/movies in certain themes... the old menus with subthemes was much nicer, and really having no idea just what content is available unless you search (not available), search again (not available), oh search once more (not available), hey lets search a 4th time oh look finally something I wanted to watch.
 
I never bitched about the price hikes. Still a hell of a bargain for unlimited streaming just about anywhere.... Hell, now I can watch whatever I want on my smartphone thanks to Netflix recently releasing the app.

I suppose I don't understand all the bitching on a computer forum where a majority of us do, or at some point did, pay monthly to play a game online for about the same price...
 
scout007 said:
it doesn't matter if the profit is $1M or $1B, constant profit is not enough according to most company today, they want growth. That is whats wrong in the world, greed.
Click to expand...

And that's where the problem starts. Starz wants more money, thus begins to charge Netflix more money. HBO see's this and begins to want more money aswell. Netflix unfortunately is the middleman and has to ask the customers for more money to keep the service going. As you can see, this doesn't sit well with the consumer and we both get screwed.
 
The blame for all this crap is the greedy movie companies maybe we should stop wasting money going to theaters and watching remakes and other crap! Force them to release new fresh and original movies. Just my humble opinion.
 
Honestly if they significantly increased their content selection they could double it again and it would be a value. Haven't used Netflix in a while though; because their streaming selection sucked even at $8 a month and almost all I wanted to use was streaming. Most of the good stuff could only be watched by dvd/bluray through the mail.
 
DejaWiz said:
I never bitched about the price hikes. Still a hell of a bargain for unlimited streaming just about anywhere.... Hell, now I can watch whatever I want on my smartphone thanks to Netflix recently releasing the app.

I suppose I don't understand all the bitching on a computer forum where a majority of us do, or at some point did, pay monthly to play a game online for about the same price...
Click to expand...

You are assuming the streaming content is satisfactory for everyone. It's not.
I watched all the streamed Netflix content from day one. I am caught up.

I do check this site (http://instantwatcher.com/) occasionally to see if they add anything worthy. Hopefully they do someday, and ill subscribe again.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top