Netflix lowers price of plans by up to 50% in over 100 countries

Netflix lowered the price of subscriptions in over 100 countries, mostly lower-income regions where the company has fewer customers.

“We’re always exploring ways to improve our members’ experience,” Netflix said Thursday in a statement. “We can confirm that we are updating the pricing of our plans in certain countries.”

The price cuts will impact more than 10 million subscribers in markets including Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines, the independent research firm Ampere Analysis said separately. They are taking place across Asia, the Americas and the Middle East.

Shares of the streaming leader fell as much as 5.2 per cent to $317.47 in New York. They were up 14 per cent this year through Wednesday’s close.

Netflix is lowering prices in countries that account for a small percentage of its subscriber base. The company has already reduced prices in India and a few markets in Southeast Asia, where growth has been slow.

Streaming services have generally been raising prices to capture more revenue from a business that has been extremely expensive to roll out. Some, including Netflix, have also launched lower-priced, ad-supported plans to reach more cost-conscious customers.

The price of the company’s basic subscription plan is dropping the most with about a 50 per cent decline, Ampere said. Other tiers are being cut 17 per cent to 25 per cent. None of the affected markets has the ad-supported offering, Ampere said.

Netflix is starting to crack down on its users’ ability to share passwords, which could amount to a price increase for many customers.

Read: Netflix eyes $7-to-$9 price for its new ad-supported plan