Netflix Now Has 222 Million Paid Subscribers
- Paul Thurrott
- Jan 20, 2022
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As part of its latest quarterly report, video streaming Netflix reported that it now has over 222 million paying subscribers, up 9 percent year-over-year.
“We achieved several milestones in 2021: we had the biggest TV show of the year (Squid Game), our two biggest film releases of all time (Red Notice and Don’t Look Up) and Netflix was the most Emmy-winning and most-nominated TV network and the most Oscar-winning and nominated movie studio of 2021,” a Netflix letter to shareholders reads.
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The firm earned a net income of $607 million on revenues of $7.7 billion for the quarter ending December 31; revenues were up 16 percent YOY. Netflix added 8.28 million new paying customers in the quarter, and 18.18 million in the past year.
It was a good quarter for original content, too, Netflix reported: New seasons of returning shows like The Witcher (484 million hours viewed ), You (468 million), Emily in Paris (287 million), and Cobra Kai (274 million) delivered strong results and Squid Game, with 1.65 billion hours viewed, is now its biggest-ever TV season. Netflix described the movie Red Notice as a blockbuster, noting that it “quickly became [its] most popular movie launch of all-time with 364 million hours viewed in just the first four weeks.”
Netflix also addressed its increasing competition in passing, noting that while the additional competition “may be affecting our marginal growth some,” Netflix “continues to grow in every country and region in which new streaming alternatives have launched. This reinforces our view that the greatest opportunity in entertainment is the transition from linear to streaming and that with under 10% of total TV screen time in the US, our biggest market, Netflix has tremendous room for growth if we can continue to improve our service.”
That said, Netflix’s subscriber numbers fell short of expectations and the firm’s current quarter outlook underwhelmed investors. Netflix shares fell over 10 percent in after-hours trading.