Netflix is increasing the price for new users.
In the media-streaming company’s Q1 earnings report, Netflix announced its price hike for new users, citing the need to increase its content collection.
But what about the current users? Netflix has a plan for its loyal customer base that will ease the minor payment increase.
The company will hold off increasing prices for current customers for an unspecified period of time, acting as a sort of grace period for current subscribers.
The company launched its price increase program in Ireland initially, and reported a “limited impact from our January price increase for new members in Ireland (from €6.99 to €7.99), which included grandfathering all existing members at €6.99 for two years.”
Of course, launching in only one country doesn’t boost revenue, so Netflix is rolling it out to everyone. “Our current view is to do a one or two dollar increase, depending on the country, later this quarter for new members only. Existing members would stay at current pricing (e.g. $7.99 in the U.S.) for a generous time period. These changes will enable us to acquire more content and deliver an even better streaming experience.”
Competing streaming services like Amazon Prime and Hulu are in the same price range, with Hulu costing $7.99 per month and Amazon Prime at $99 per year.