Netflix Loses Market Share in Mexico

Netflix’s market share in Mexico has contracted from 74.6% to 22% in five years. This loss of users is due to a combination of restrictive policies, price increases, and increased competition in the streaming sector, according to consultants such as The Ciu and JustWatch.

Radamés Camargo, Analyst, The Ciu, explains that Netflix's recent decisions, such as the ban on account sharing, the incorporation of advertising in certain plans, and increases in monthly fees, negatively impacted the platform's perceived value. "Netflix is at a point where it only seeks to have solid finances, regardless of the fact that in order to achieve this goal it affects the user or loses customers due to all the policies it applies to its platform," says Camargo to Expansión.

Netflix's decline is directly related to intensifying competition in the sector, changing platform commercial policies, and a progressive fragmentation of content, according to JustWatch. During the pandemic, Netflix experienced peak adoption driven by its ad-free subscription model with extensive sharing capabilities and affordable pricing. However, the entry of new players into the market such as Disney+, Max, and Amazon Prime Video changed the competitive conditions. For example, Netflix's Premium monthly plan costs MX$329 (US$16.99), while Max offers a monthly subscription for MX$199 (US$10.25). Amazon Prime and Max still allow account sharing, a practice that Netflix eliminated.

According to the report The Subscription Wars: The Awakening of Super Bundling, prepared by the firm Bango, the Mexican consumer has gone from paying MX$99 per month (US$5.10) for a single service to an average of MX$764 per month (US$39.3) to access multiple platforms, which represents an annual expenditure of close to MX$9,168 (US$471.9). 

Globally, Netflix registered 302 million users at the end of 2024, but does not break down specific figures by country. Despite this, the company tells Expansión that it maintains its leadership in the streaming market and is focused on increasing the production of local content in Mexico as a strategy to retain and increase its user base.

According to The Ciu, regaining market share in Mexico would imply a rethinking of its user-centric strategy. Recommendations include developing exclusive content of high narrative and visual quality, establishing alliances with third parties to facilitate access, and redesigning tariff plans with competitive benefits compared to the rest of the market.