After a monumental run that has seen stock prices nearly double in recent months to reach record highs, Netflix has begun to cool off a bit on Wall Street. Still, the innovative streaming service is bound for a strong close to 2015, predicted to end the year with nearly 70 million subscribers.
According to a new report by Digital TV Research, Netflix is predicted to end 2015 with nearly 13 million additional subscribers after posting over 57 million subs in January. To give an idea of just how fast Netflix is growing, the company ended 2012 with just over 33 million total members, doubling its customer base over the last 3 years, and then some.
As Netflix has boasted to great effect — both on and off Wall Street — a big part of the company’s growth strategy has been an effort to expand into new markets internationally. That will include over 26 million international subscribers forecast by years end, with penetration in over 50 countries, including recent pushes into Western European states like France, Germany, and Norway, Latin American countries like Brazil and Mexico, and moves into Australia and New Zealand, with future plans to extend into Japan, India, and even China. Netflix plans to land in 200 countries by 2017.
As Advanced Television has reported, Digital TV Research estimates that Netflix’s overall growth of 28 percent in 2015 will include international growth of 57 percent over last year, or 9.58 million international subscribers. Some of the biggest international players in the pot will include the UK with an estimated 4.942 million subs, Canada with 3.95 million, Brazil with 3.338 million, and Mexico, with just under 2 million.
While those numbers are relatively meager compared to domestic subscribers predicted at 43 million and counting, it’s a solid expansion rate, and growth overseas is poised to continue.
Of course, Netflix will not run unopposed in the race for world streaming domination, with HBO and Amazon Instant Video looking for bigger slices of the streaming pie at home, and massive challengers like Chinese e-commerce site Alibaba looking to get into the game in China.
Still, Netflix has a lot going for it, including a healthy head start on its streaming rivals abroad, deep ties to content providers to land the best shows and feature films (new and old), as well as big plans for the company’s critically acclaimed original titles. While there will no doubt be some bumpy roads ahead as Netflix learns to navigate on international soil, the future for the ever encroaching big red flag looks promising indeed.
