For many years we have been able share netflix account without any problem. The streaming giant has always looked the other way, but we recently learned that Netflix was going to change its policy.
In short, the company has announced that it will begin to apply measures against the sharing of passwords to reduce the number of accounts that are shared between friends. The first tests are being carried out in Chile, Peru and Costa Rica, but later it will reach other countries.
The idea of Netflix is that, if you want to share an account with your friends, you pay an additional extra to enjoy this possibility, or invite users to make their own Netflix account.
But,what are the reasons why the company has decided to make this change of direction, just when Netflix prices are going back up in America? The stagnation of new subscribers.
Netflix wants to increase its share of customers at all costs
Netflix is experiencing a slowdown in terms of growth. The American company has considerably increased its investments to produce new content for its platform. You just have to take a look at this weekend’s Netflix releases to know that it’she streaming giant keeps adding new movies, series and documentaries. And this increase in the production budget means that, although it may not seem like it, Netflix needs more money.
As we were saying, for years the big N has allowed us to share Netflix accounts without any problem. Even in the past one of the bosses of Netflix stated in an interview that it was good to share accounts. And that in the conditions indicates that it is prohibited to do it with people outside the home.
But now that your subscriber growth is slowing, added to the fact that Disney + and HBO Max do not stop growing, have been two decisive factors for the alarms to go off at Netflix headquarters. The firm has to find new forms of financing and has seen that the best option is to “brand yourself a Google”.
What does Google have to do with all this? Very simple: for years, any user could enjoy Google Photos for free and without any storage limit. Years later, when the service became a must for millions of users, they decided to limit the storage space. The result? Many complaints from the community, but also a notable increase in subscribers to their paid service. The reason is as simple as that it is a service that has become essential.
And Netflix knows that its situation is very similar to that of Google. The company has become essential for millions of households, who use its entertainment platform for it every day.
You know it’s a must-have for millions of homes
In short, Netflix has become an essential service for manyand the company knows that, although there will be customers who will jump to other platforms, the number of new subscribers when they apply the measure that prohibits sharing free accounts will grow significantly.
What’s more, It should be remembered that Netflix does not prohibit sharing accounts, but you will have to pay an extra for it. As industry analysts have indicated to The Verge, “Netflix has let it go for a long, long time using passwords. But, when something becomes so important to your daily life, it makes it increasingly easy to crack down on things like password sharing.”
And this is the big difference with its rivals: Netflix is the great reference and an essential for millions of people. For this reason, while other services are considering including subscription models with ads to offer a more adjusted rate, Netflix is going in another direction: forcing you to pay more to continue enjoying its catalog of movies, series, and documentaries. Be careful, that does not mean that a Netflix with ads will never arrive, but the company knows that it can continue to avoid this option for a while,
To give you an idea, several analysts estimate that Netflix would get between 10 and 20 million subscribers in the United States alone when they apply this measure. But this is a double-edged sword, since preventing the sharing of a Netflix account can keep a good group of users away from trying illicit options again, such as downloading content by torrent, for example.
It will be necessary to see when this new measure will finally apply that will prevent you from sharing a Netflix account without paying an extra, but it is clear that the company is going to play it with this movement. Do you think it will turn out well or will there be a drain of customers who will jump to other platforms?
