- Netflix has been seen testing a new ₹250 ‘mobile only’ monthly subscription plan on its video on demand platform in India.
- Despite the decrease in price, the monthly subscription is still more expensive as compared to the streaming service’s competitors in the Indian market.
- But it’s a smart move by the company to capture the growing market of Indian users who watch videos on their smartphones.
But, considering that the difference in pricing is closing in — Netflix may have finally found a way to increase its subscribers in India. An EY report shows that the number of paid video subscribers has doubled over the past year. One of the primary reasons they cited is how pricing of video streaming platforms is inching closer to TV pricing.
The increase in the number of paying users resulted in a four fold growth in revenue to ₹13.4 billion in 2018. And, the price tag falls under the ₹255 average that users Indians are prepared to pay, on average, for subscription content, according to a joint report by IMRB and Kantar Media.
That increase in paid subscribers is coupled with growth in the number of people — 325 million as of 2018 — who watch videos on their smartphones. An Omidyar Network report shows that Indians spend 30% of their time consuming media and entertainment when they’re on their mobile devices. The ‘Digital in 2018’ report paints a similar story where they say that watching videos is the second most popular activity with smartphone users in India. That is in part aided by the growth of cheap data services in India.