Netflix is mulling a cheaper pricing plan to woo more Indian subscribers

• Netflix’s third-quarter results were stronger than expected, with nearly 7 million new subscriptions - 5.9 million of which came from outside the US.
  
• The streaming service has made a big push into local language content in India, where pricing plans currently start at ₹500 a month.
  
• In a conference call with analysts, Netflix’s Chief Product Officer, Gregory Peters explained was mulling a plan to offer a pricing tier that is below its cheapest package in India.
  

Netflix released its third-quarter results on 16 October. The streaming service exceeded analysts’ expectations with nearly 7 million new subscriptions over the July-September period, - a record number - 5.9 million of which came from outside the US. Revenue was up 36% to $4 billion while free clash flow was negative $859 million, largely owing to the company’s heavy spending on original content.

A big theme of the earnings release was Netflix’s international plans, especially its growth in India. While the streaming service has made a big push in India with local language content in order to accelerate subscriber growth, it is rethinking its pricing plans in the country, which currently start at ₹500 a month.

In a conference call with analysts, Netflix’s Chief Product Officer, Gregory Peters,said that the company was “just getting started in India” and that it would experiment with pricing models in the country. He explained that Netflix was mulling a plan to offer a pricing tier that is below its current cheapest package, and once implemented, it would assess the corresponding increase in subscriber growth.

On the call, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings reaffirmed the streaming service’s big plans for India. This includes the provision of more content in Hindi and many regional languages, a variety of pricing options and the bundling of a number of services.

The streaming service is targeting 100 million subscribers in India in the long-term and realises that it will need to woo them with cheaper pricing plans, taking them “1 million at a time”, according to Hastings. As of end-2017, it was reported to have 5 million subscribers in the country.