In India, there has been a spike in demand for OTT material during the epidemic. Streaming behemoth Netflix, on the other hand, appears to be struggling in India. Netflix cofounder Reed Hastings claimed the platform’s lack of success in India is “frustrating” in an investor call on Thursday. “We’ve got the flywheel turning in every other significant market.” “What irritates us is why we haven’t been as successful in India,” he continued, “but we are leaning in there.”
According to Live Mint, the platform, which has over 222 million paying users globally, saw net additions drop by more than half to 18 million in 2021, compared to 37 million in 2020. Netflix’s stock dropped about 20% as a result, wiping off the majority of its pandemic-fueled gains from 2020.
Netflix has a much smaller subscriber base in India than Amazon Prime Video and Hotstar. According to a Media Partners Asia study report from 2021, Netflix has 5 million subscribers in India, compared to 46 million for Disney plus Hotstar and 19 million for Amazon Prime Video.
In December of last year, Netflix dropped its cost for the first time since its arrival into India in 2016. To gain a greater share of the streaming industry, the corporation lowered subscription fees by up to 60%. To entice potential users, Netflix also tried out a mobile-only package. “We believed it was the perfect moment to lower our rates there, to expand access to the added value or services that we’ve been striving to give in the market to more Indian people,” said Greg Peters, Netflix’s chief operating officer and chief product officer.
According to a survey by RBSA Advisors, India’s video OTT industry is predicted to reach $12.5 billion by 2030, up from $1.5 billion in 2021. This is due to stronger networks, digital connection, and smartphones.
According to the research, the next wave of OTT growth would come from tier II, III, and IV cities, as well as the Indian language speaking population.
