Netflix has been giving notice for months that it will start enforcing its policies on password sharing in the United States after implementing adjustments in a number of other nations, including Canada. Executives from the company provided another another cue on how soon Netflix will address password sharing in the United States, albeit later than expected.
In order to combat password sharing, Netflix has been looking at several measures. These include a log-in verification procedure in 2021 and the usage of sub-accounts for users who don’t live with the account owner in 2022, which was trialed in Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru. Early in February, Netflix added Canada, New Zealand, Portugal, and Spain to its premium account sharing program.
By the conclusion of the first quarter, which has now passed, it was anticipated that some kind of compensated password sharing would arrive in the United States.
Gregory Peters, co-CEO and director of Netflix, stated on a Tuesday earnings conference that the company’s most recent premium account sharing rollouts “have gone well” and that it has “learned from this last set of launches about some improvements we can do.”
He continued by acknowledging the U.S. rollout’s delay, saying “it was better to take a little bit of extra time,” and he promised a “new improved version” of paid password sharing will be widely released in the second quarter.
This indicates that by the end of June, sharing a Netflix account will be more difficult than just giving someone your login information. The specifics of compensated password sharing in the United States are still unclear.
The aforementioned sub accounts, which Netflix has offered in other nations, let account holders with a basic or premium plan add up to two persons who don’t live in their home to their plan for an additional, cheaper charge. Netflix hasn’t specified a possible US price for this charge.
When Netflix offered sub accounts in Chile last year, the additional member cost $2.99. Netflix will cost CAD$7.99 (about $5.95 USD) in Canada. The transition to paid sharing is something Netflix is aware of as well. In a letter to shareholders, management observed that while some users in Latin America cancelled their accounts in the midst of the crackdown on password sharing, the number of new members finally registered climbed thanks to the utilization of subaccounts and new users.
Although the business is aware that some American customers “won’t convert” when paid sharing launches, Peters said on Tuesday that such users “represent essentially a pool of people that we can then go after with improving our offering” with regards to movies, television shows, and games.
It’s important to note that this decision won’t be welcomed by all members, thus some present members may not like it. In a conference call with investors in January, Peters predicted that there would be a slight cancellation reaction. “We compare this to what we observe when we raise prices,”
Netflix hasn’t indicated what steps it will take if users continue to share accounts outside of their homes after implementing modifications in Canada and three other nations.
Additionally on Tuesday, Netflix declared that after 25 years, it will no longer mail DVDs.
