New York (AFP)
Netflix has garnered 4.4 million additional subscribers on the net, better than expected despite increasingly fierce competition, and with its entry into video games and related products, aims to overtake Disney as an entertainment empire.
The online video service now has 213.5 million paid subscriptions worldwide, and expects 222 million at the end of the year, according to a statement released Tuesday.
By comparison, its main rival in this market, Disney, claimed 116 million subscribers in early July.
"We are still small," the group commented, "with a lot of growth opportunities."
Netflix thus mentions a figure from the Nielsen firm, which calculated that in September, the giant with the red N represented "only" 6% of the time spent in front of a screen in the United States, tied at the top with YouTube.
After a boost linked to the coronavirus pandemic and lockdowns (+25 million subscribers in one year), Netflix had seen its growth rate slow down in recent quarters.
But over the three months from July to September, the streaming service accelerated again (+ 9.4% over one year), boosted by the Europe, Africa and Middle East regions, as well as Asia.
The Los Gatos group in California expects to gain another 8.5 million net subscribers in the fourth quarter, in line with market forecasts.
In the third quarter, Netflix posted revenue of $ 7.48 billion, up 16% year-on-year, slightly better than analysts' expectations, according to the consensus established by FactSet.
Net income was up 83% to $ 1.44 billion, or $ 3.19 per share, significantly better than the $ 2.56 expected by the market.
- "Squid Game" at 142 million -
Already, by far, the benchmark video platform in the world, Netflix has recently hit a big blow in recent weeks with its "Squid Game" series.
Launched in mid-September, the program, with a limited budget of $ 21 million, has already been seen by more than 142 million subscribers, a record, according to figures updated Tuesday, some two-thirds of users.
That's almost double that of "Bridgerton", the second most popular series, watched by 82 million subscribing households.
Netflix recently estimated, according to internal documents cited by the Bloomberg agency, the value of "Squid Game" at nearly $ 900 million, although this is not income directly generated by the group.
The subscription video service has also been in the spotlight recently for the filmed show by comedian Dave Chappelle.
In particular, he made mocking remarks about transgender people, which sparked a controversy.
Under pressure, Netflix refused to remove the program from the platform.
Unlike Disney, Amazon or AT&T (HBO), its main competitors in streaming, Netflix is not a diverse group and can, for the moment, only rely on its platform.
To expand his activities, he recently acquired a video game studio, Night School Studio.
During the presentation of the results, the co-managing director Reed Hastings imagined aloud the release, in three years, of a game "Squid Game", fully integrated into the platform.
Number three Greg Peters has indicated the group may make further acquisitions in the video game world, but "don't expect us to go into a buying spree," he said. .
Netflix has also entered into a partnership with Walmart to create a space dedicated to its derivative products on the distribution giant's e-commerce site.
On Tuesday, he indicated that the demand for products affiliated with the "Squid Game" universe was "strong" and that the first deliveries were already underway.
“A company like Disney is always ahead of us when it comes to the ability to build a universe, but we are making great strides,” commented Reed Hastings, pointing to the group's immense ambition beyond just video content.
It's "very exciting to catch up in the next three to five years and hopefully overtake them in terms of the full range," which mixes all aspects of entertainment together.
The goal, according to the co-founder?
"To be the place where the whole world goes for most of their entertainment."
© 2021 AFP