On Wednesday, the streaming service Netflix announced an emergency to investors as shares plummeted 35%, wiping out $50 billion in market cap. The company made the grave mistake of pointing the fingers at users, blaming password sharing for their misfortune, something experts say will alienate their already shrinking consumer base.
However, this isn’t all; with Netflix pulling out of Russia, losing 700,000 users and 200,000 subscribers in the first quarter, as they, embarrassingly, predicted 2.5 million new users in the first three months, it doesn’t make them look any better, the public.
This has called the future of streaming into question, with experts wondering what’s next for Netflix as investors pull out and further 2 million users are likely to cancel their subscription. In a letter to investors begging them to stick around, Netflix blamed everything but themselves, including the government, covid-19 and geopolitics.
The letter details how they can gain revenue, saying that “a way to enable members who share outside their household to do so easily and securely, while also paying more.”
Experts say the lack of quality of the service and the plans to increase the price is disastrous, including Zak Shaikh: “I think it comes down — as it often does — to content,” Shaikh told CNN Business. “Netflix just has to remember what made it so special was that it had the type of content and volume of content you couldn’t get anywhere else. That’s the value proposition they need to return to.”
This is a dangerous president for Netflix, which seem to be panicking as the ship sinks. All of these factors and the expert’s predictions make you wonder what’s next for Netflix and what the streaming service will look like in years to come.
