For financial reasons, Netflix plans to tackle account sharing.
Last week, the Netflix platform announced that it was evaluating a new password sharing system. The goal? Reduce the number of accounts that exploit account holders outside their own homes.
So users in Chile, Costa Rica and Peru will soon be able to add up to two additional members to their Netflix subscription as sub-accounts. Concretely, in these three countries, it will be possible to officially add to a Standard or Premium account, up to two members who are not part of the household. The extra is charged around €2 per profile.
A gradual change in policy
“Netflix let it go for a long, long time”analyst Richard Greenfield of LightShed Partners tells The Verge.
Technically, Netflix prohibits users from sharing accounts with individuals “outside” their household. Moreover, this practice is not authorized in the contract of the Terms of use.
But in fact, the reality is quite different and many third parties take advantage of the platform’s services for free. So, over the past year, the company has begun to consider exploring ways to smoothly enforce a crackdown on shared accounts.
Declining growth
This policy shift does not come out of nowhere. As a reminder, Netflix has long enjoyed explosive subscriber growth. However, at the beginning of the year, this exponential curve lost its splendor.
Indeed, in January, a drop in new subscribers sent Netflix plummeting on Wall Street. In figures, the action of the American streaming giant fell by 20% at the opening of the Stock Exchange. This was announced on January 21, following the platform reported a drop in its subscriber count.
The implementation of total monitoring of shared accounts would therefore be a way to boost these figures. As a reminder, Netflix already increased its prices in the United States in October 2020 and once more in January. The price of its standard packages has gone up from $13.99 to $15.49.
