Have you ever heard the term optimising for growth? Well it looks like hat’s what Netflix is trying to do, with a “mobile-only” plan launched overnight in India as rumoured last week.
Netflix is working had to get more subscribers for its service, especially after missing recent growth forecasts. Offering a cheaper plan thats restricted to mobile devices is a good option for them in markets where home broadband might not be as reliable. Plus, mobile phones with smaller screens won’t be consuming higher bitrate streams.
The new offering will allow subscribers to stream video to only a single phone or tablet in SD quality (no TVs or PCs). It costs 199 Indian Rupees a month (about AU$4.12) making it a pretty good deal if you’re consuming most of your content on a mobile or tablet. It’s unclear if the new plan supports Chromecast, but we highly doubt it considering the device restrictions.
With Netflix reporting slowing growth in the last quarter, it’s unclear if they will roll the plan out outside of emerging markets to try to bolster the subscriber base, or if this new plan tier is really just intended to bring on subscribers from new markets.
India has some 400 million mobile phone users, and Netflix missed its subscriber growth target by 2.5 million. Further rollout of a mobile-only plan to other markets will likely be determined by how successful it is in India.
