“It will take us a couple more years,” Wells said, speaking at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia Conference on Tuesday. Though he did not specify any numbers, Wells gave a rough estimate of where the company currently is compared to its goal: “We’re a third to halfway to where we want to be.”
This might sound great to those looking for more content to binge on after wrapping up Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt or Orange is the New Black, but there will be a cost. In this case, that means literally. Wells said that as Netflix’s library of original offerings grows, so will the monthly subscription price. “We face pressure from investors that we’re underpriced,” he added.
Netflix jumped into original content with shows like 2013’s House of Cards. While it initially might have seemed like a gamble, the company’s strategy paid off and it followed suit with more shows, as well as original movies like Beasts Of No Nation and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword Of Destiny.
The success of Netflix’s original content was a boon for the company, but also led to similar efforts from its competition. Amazon has multiple original series, including the award-winning Transparent and The Man in the High Castle, while other companies like Hulu and Crackle offer increasingly growing libraries of their own original content as well.
There is no word on exactly how much the subscription price might grow by, or when this might happen, but Wells’ statements do not make it seem like the company is concerned. He told investors that anywhere from one third to half of customers who cancel their accounts end up returning at a later date.
