Netflix's Future Is Outside the U.S.: International Subs Growing
At CES in January, Netflix launched in over 130 countries at once. By 2018, it will have more international subscribers than it does domestic.
The numbers come from market intelligence company IHS Markit, which says Netflix currently has 79.9 million subscribers, and the number of international subs will overtake those in the U.S. in 2018. International markets are going to explode for the subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) leader, as it will have 75 million international subscribers by 2020.
Netflix's international growth is coming just as its domestic numbers are slowing. While its subscribers grew by 30 percent between 2014 and 2015, IHS predicts they will grow only 21 percent in 2016. However, its international subs will grow by 38 percent in 2016, with 2.8 million of those coming from markets where Netflix launched in January.
Netflix will count 100 million subscribers by 2018.
Over half of Netflix's revenue will soon come from international subscribers: It will reach $13 billion in revenue by 2020, with 53 percent of that coming from outside the U.S.
The biggest non-U.S. markets for Netflix are in Western Europe, where the U.K. will have over 6 million subscribers by the end of this year, and the Nordic countries and the Netherlands will have 5.4 million combined. IHS expects Germany to have 2.2 million subscribers by 2020.
Related Articles
The largest online networks are moving away from licensed Hollywood movies and toward premium original series, rapidly changing the TV industry.
17 Oct 2016
While the U.K. is the biggest spender for subscription video-on-demand services, some smaller countries have high averages.
20 Sep 2016
Under new rules from the European Commission, the SVOD services must ensure that at least 20 percent of their catalogs are of European origin.
26 May 2016
The debut of Netflix streaming leads to rapid decreases in spending for physical media. The U.S. and U.K. have both seen DVD sales erode.
25 Feb 2016
While some pay TV operators have seen increased customer satisfaction with Netflix integration, others will likely face lower average revenues.
12 Feb 2016