Netflix Surpassed the 200 Million Subscriber Mark

Netflix demonstrated, once again, that last year was one of the best for the streaming company. The streaming company added 8.51 million subscribers in 4Q20, surpassing the expected 6.01 million by 41 percent. The great success of original content, such as The Queen's Gambit, Ratched and Lupin, attracted millions of users who are still under lockdown around the world. 

Between October and December, Netflix’s revenue hit US$6.644 billion, compared to analysts' forecasts of US$6.3 billion. Net earnings fell to US$542.2 million, compared to US$587 million in the same period a year earlier. At the end of 2020, Netflix hit 203.66 million paying subscribers, 21.9 percent more than a year earlier. In Latin America, subscribers increased 1.2 million to 37.54 million. Over the year, the company had a record 37 million paid subscriptions, achieving annual revenues of US$25 billion, an increase of 24 percent over 2019, and operating profit increased 76 percent to US$4.6 billion, according to its report released on Tuesday. 

In the so-called streaming war, Disney+ has positioned itself as one of the strongest competitors for Netflix by reaching 86.8 million subscribers in its first year. In November, Mickey Mouse’s platform joined the Mexican market, in which Netflix leads with a 36 percent market share, followed by Amazon Prime Video with 22 percent, Claro Video with 14 percent and HBO Go with 11 percent, according to CNET. The Competitive Intelligence Unit highlights the streaming video market had a turnover of US$883 million in 2019 in Mexico.

“Our strategy is simple: if we can continue to improve Netflix every day to better delight our members, we can be their first choice for streaming entertainment,” Netflix said in its report. “This past year is a testament to this approach. Disney+ had a massive first year (87 million paid subscribers!) and we recorded the biggest year of paid membership growth in our history.”