Netflix has announced a price increase for two of its plans in the US. The streaming service made an announcement on Thursday that Standard and Premium subscribers will be paying a little more.
The Standard Plan which was originally priced at $12.99 is now $13.99 while the Premium Plan that used to be $15.99 is now $18.99. The basic plan which allows you to watch content on only one screen and in standard definition remains $8.99. The new prices take effect immediately.
If you are wondering if there will be a price hike in your country, a Netflix spokesperson told The Verge that changes in price happen on a country-by-country basis and the increase in the US is not an indication of a global change in price.
The price increase in the US comes nearly two years after the last one in January 2019. However, in that time frame, more streaming services have entered into the market such as Disney+, HBO Max, and Peacock. This means subscribers have more options, but Netflix is not fazed as it believes the increase in price will allow it to “continue to offer more variety of TV shows and films”.
The streaming service plans to invest more in content offerings as there are now more competitors in the business. It spent $18.5 billion in developing original content this year according to a Bloomberg report and that figure is expected to be higher in 2021. It is no surprise that some of this cost is being passed to consumers.
During its Q2 earnings call in July, Netflix announced it added 10.1 million subscribers between April and June to the about 180 million it originally had. With its recent promotions such as free content for those without a subscription and an upcoming 2-day streamfest in India that is scheduled for December 4, we expect the number of subscribers to enter 200 million by the end of the year.
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