Despite constantly cutting its subscription prices in India, Netflix has “not succeeded” in growing its business there, according to analysts at AllianceBernstein in a report to investors on Thursday.
In comparison to Prime Video’s 20 million users in the South Asian region, the U.S. streamer has approximately 6.5 million customers in India, according to the experts. Disney+ Hotstar, which has more than 40 million users, continues to rule the market.
AllianceOnly 12% of the titles the international streamer offers in the nation are local, according to Bernstein, who blamed Netflix’s sluggish development in India on the absence of local material. Comparatively, almost 60% of Prime Video’s Indian inventory was available in regional languages.
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Despite continually dropping its costs there while essentially raising them in all other significant regions, Netflix has received a bad welcome in India. The largest telecom company in India, Jio Platforms, and Netflix signed a “first-of-its-kind” agreement in August to combine the streaming service with the company’s pay-as-you-go plans.
“Perhaps the lesson from India points to both the need for higher density of local-language content as we described above, but also a recognition that in many emerging markets, value is less tied to a comparison with other streaming services and more tied to a much lower cost of linear TV or Internet video. India, for example, is likely YouTube’s largest market, and a key growth area for social media names,” the analysts wrote.
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A request for comment from Netflix did not immediately receive a response.
Thanks to its cricket streaming options, which routinely draw millions of live viewers during matches, Disney’s Hotstar continues to dominate its rivals in India. Even the ongoing 45-day ICC Cricket World Cup is available to all mobile users for free streaming on the platform. JioCinema, the latest project from billionaire Mukesh Ambani, is increasingly establishing itself as a viable rival by adopting Disney’s tactic of purchasing the rights to prominent cricket matches.
