Netflix Subscription Dwindle in Europe, Middle East, Africa Region
Vanessa Obioha
In its latest quarterly earnings report, the streaming giant Netflix lost almost one million subscribers. The number is less than the two million it forecasted. The departed subscribers come mainly from the United States and Canada region where it lost 1.3 million subscribers. However, in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the streaming platform lost less than one million subscribers. Netflix saw an increase in the region in the fourth quarter of 2021 when it had over 74 million subscribers. The number dwindled in the first quarter of 2022 by 310,000. That number has now doubled in the second quarter.
While the exact number of subscribers in Africa cannot be estimated based on the statistics the company provided, the company may be getting stiff competition in Africa where other streaming giants are beginning to eye the continent. Amazon is already staking its claim on the continent with the production of original content in Nigeria and South Africa. Revenue from the region also decreased.
Netflix continues its lead on non-English programming with Latin America taking the spotlight in the second quarter with the Colombian series ‘Marked Heart’. According to the company in a letter addressed to its stakeholders, the series found “a global audience and ended up in the top 10 in 81 countries around the world by its second week.”
It added that “Similarly, ‘The Takedown’, a French film, was in the top 10 in 91 countries around the world by its second week, again showing the power of an authentic story and our ability to serve those stories – with subtitling, dubbing, and personalized discovery – for members to enjoy around the world.”
The strong performance of the fourth season of ‘Stranger Things’, which generated 1.3 billion hours of views, the most for an English-language show, also boosted the company’s outlook.
Notwithstanding its loss, Netflix is confident that it would add one million subscribers in the next quarter.
