Netflix Just Had A Huge Year - And Mobile Is A Big Reason Why

Netflix just had its biggest year yet, with the company reporting that it added 11 million subscribers in 2013, the highest yearly net add to date. While continued expansion in international markets and an impressive original content strategy are getting a lot of credit for Netflix's performance, there's another reason that Netflix continues to outperform expectations - a strong mobile product.

As BI Intelligence noted in a recent report on the mobile video landscape, Netflix has been incredibly forward-thinking on mobile devices.

In 2010, Netflix introduced "Watch Instantly" for the iPad, and it became one of the first apps to be showcased on the breakout device; this made the app virtually synonymous with tablet-based video consumption.

iPhone and Apple TV-compatible apps came later that year. Since then, Netflix has created apps for Android, Windows Phone, Kindle Fire, Nook, Google Chromecast, and a host of smart TVs and game consoles.

For Netflix, mobile has been a key part of its strategy to be as sticky a video platform as possible, facilitating binge-watching in order to retain existing users and draw in new ones.

In 2013, 23% of all Netflix subscribers watched on their smartphones, and 15% did so on iPads. BI Intelligence finds that mobile video is poised to have a huge 2014, and that means the Netflix audience across mobile devices is only going to keep growing.

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Here's a look at just how big Netflix's audience is on mobile: