Earlier this week, we had reported that Netflix was planning to launch more affordable plans in India to gain new users. Well, this has finally happened. Knowing that its services are more on the premium side, Netflix has now launched plans that allow users to view content via their smartphones. These services will be offered for 250 INR, which puts it in a similar price bracket as its competitors like Amazon Prime and Hotstar. Prior to this, Netflix only offered plans that ranged from 500-800 INR, which made it far more expensive than other streaming giants. As a result, it lost out on many customers.
India is, after all, a price sensitive market. Making this change should give it a better chance of getting more viewers. The company is targeting increasing its subscriber base by 100 million viewers just from India alone, and tweaking the price should certainly help with the same.
According to a spokesperson from Netflix, this is not just something they are trying out for the Indian market. He said “We will be testing different options in select countries where members can, for example, watch Netflix on their mobile device for a lower price and subscribe in shorter increments of time,”
Why smartphones?
Over the last few years, there has been a massive increase in the demand for smartphones. More and more consumers now pursue their content online through these devices so it is natural for them to also stream shows on the same device. According to reports, there are over 1.1 billion wireless devices and with the high demand for the same, this number will certainly increase as time goes by.
By offering a smartphone-only streaming package, Netflix is tapping into the market of young consumers who want more content on their devices.
