Home » Technology » Netflix has been losing subscribers for 3 years

Netflix has been losing subscribers for 3 years

Netflix is ​​in bad shape. More and more customers with a subscription of more than 3 years are canceling their subscription. At the same time, the VOD leader is struggling to retain new users in a market where Disney+ is enjoying tremendous success.

At the end of April 2022, Netflix announced the loss of 200,000 subscribers worldwide. Weakened by fierce competition from Disney+, the streaming service is far from achieving its goals. To compensate for the bleeding of subscribers, Netflix has decided to lay off 150 employees in the United States. According to research shared by The Information, more and more regular Netflix subscribers cancel their subscriptions. The media claims to get its information from Antenna, an analytics company that focuses on the habits of American consumers.

Netflix struggles to keep new subscribers while Disney+ is a hit

According to the survey, people who have subscribed to Netflix for more than 3 years represent 13% of cancellations in the first quarter of 2022. This is higher than in previous years, reports The Information. According to data collected by Antenna, subscribers under one year represented 60% of cancellations in the last quarter, compared to 70% in the same period last year. Netflix always has great difficulty retaining its new subscribers, despite the wealth of its catalog.

The gradual increase in the price of the subscription visibly discourages new customers from extending their subscription, while persuading old users to switch. In France, the last price increase was last summer. The standard offer of Essential has been increased by one euro, against two euros per month for the other two packages.

Netflix attributes this increase to account sharing, a practice that weighs on the company’s revenue. The proliferation of offerings in the streaming market is also no stranger to the erosion of Netflix’s subscriber base. While Netflix records half-mast results, Disney+ announces it gained 7.9 million new subscribers in the past quarter. The entertainment giant now has 137.7 million paid subscribers worldwide in Q1 2022, compared to Netflix’s 221.84 million.