Netflix Will Have to do More than Just ‘Chill’. The Streaming Service Faces Some Major Competition

Long ago, if you wanted to watch that favorite movie of yours more than once, you invested some money in renting or even buying a DVD that you stuck into your computer and loaded the film. This was also the case for TV shows, far more expensive that a movie since each season fit into a DVD stack of around 3 to 4 disks that were expensive in those times. With improved digital technologies, you no longer pay for each and every television show or movie you want to watch as you simply subscribe to a streaming service and pay a monthly subscription fee for unlimited access to all favorite movies and shows.

Netflix fast forwarded the media industry by introducing their own streaming services that allowed people to watch their television shows and favorite movies whenever they wanted, provided they were subscribers. This was a convenience for many people by becoming part of a catch phrase “Netflix and Chill”. Over the years, Netflix managed to improve one-click entertainment services, but also by giving them unique, innovative content. Netflix changed the way people watched video content and set extremely high standards for competitors like Hulu, Amazon Prime and HBO. Netflix admits that Fortnite is its biggest threat with people spending hours on the platform and not HBO or Disney.

Competition increasing

Netflix’s success has spurred competition from other production companies struggling to stay relevant in today’s digital technology. Blockbuster movies exist, but Disney or Warner Bros. will not step aside to let Netflix reign over the cloud with their streaming services. Despite more streaming services entering the future market, Netflix revealed not being worried about increased competition due to the loyalty built up with millions of customers. Popular streaming platforms for video games are the competition to beat. It all boils down to screen time used by individuals for entertainment.

Fortnite is winning people who spend more time streaming games than they would on other entertainment platforms. More time people spend on Fortnite, lesser is the time available for watching Netflix. One reason why people play video games is also the reason why they watch movies or television shows- to entertain themselves. Fortnite has more than 200 million users registered with them, as well as about 80 million log-ins every month, and it earned over $3 billion in profit. Netflix believes they are a force to be reckoned with.

Netflix stocks stumble

Netflix needs to prepare for other competitors planning their own streaming services. Disney decided to remove most of their content off Netflix for the upcoming launch of their streaming platform. Netflix shares have fared well with investors and analysts, despite their latest drop by nearly 4% after the firm disclosed poor earnings last week. It announced an 8.8 million increase in its subscriber count, which was higher than expert predictions but Netflix revenues didn’t meet expected targets and their stocks didn’t pull investors despite the Birdbox challenge, at the start of the year. Their audiences loved their content over the past few years, but have criticised their history of increasing subscription charges exorbitantly about two years ago. Users’ had mixed reactions towards the latest changes in price plans. According to Netflix, this is a risk taken to ensure their audiences better services every month. Also the future investments would help Netflix create better content.