We’ve been hearing about many price hikes for streaming platforms recently. Across the board, it seems like costs for streamers keep going up. But in a somewhat unprecedented move, Netflix is actually lowering costs for dozens of countries. Of course, these Netflix price decreases come at the same time that Netflix is cracking down on password sharing in many places. It seems like the streamer may hope to offset some of the ill-will caused by that initiative by lowering its subscription prices. And honestly, that just might work.
Presently, according to The Wall Street Journal, Netflix has set reductions for certain tiers in more than 100 countries and territories across the world. That includes “Middle Eastern countries including Yemen, Jordan, Libya, and Iran; sub-Saharan African markets including Kenya.” Additionally, “in Latin America, nations including Nicaragua, Ecuador, and Venezuela have seen reductions in subscription costs, as have parts of Asia including Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines.” Some European countries such as Croatia, Slovenia, and Bulgaria have also seen cost decreases for their Netflix subscriptions.
And these lower Netflix subscription costs have not been just minimal. According to The Hollywood Reporter, discounts on basic tiers have run from 20-60%. And the price cut is effective immediately for Netflix’s current subscribers. For now, no price decreases are reported for Netflix users in North America and Western Europe. But honestly, Netflix might want to seriously consider it. With growing ennui about content cuts and password and account sharing crackdowns, a suddenly lower price could go a long way in retaining consumers and adding new subscribers.
As the streaming landscape continues to wind and turn, we’ll have to see what happens next. But certainly, we’d welcome more news like this on the horizon. It’s definetly nicer to see than another loss of a nearly finished program.