LOS GATOS, CA – Despite a growing number of competitors, Netflix added 6.74 million new customers in the first quarter, and posted increases in revenues and profits.
The online streaming giant said that it now has 81.5 million subscribers worldwide, with 47 million U.S. customers and 34.5 million (or 42%) internationally. It added 2.23 million U.S. customers in the three month period, down from 2.28 million in the same period last year, but added 4.51 new international customers after launching in 130 more countries this quarter.
Revenues for the period were $1.81 billion, up from $1.40 billion during the same quarter in 2015, while net income of $27.7 million grew from the $23.7 million reported for the same period a year earlier.
A note to shareholders that included the company’s financial results said that its performance in the quarter benefited from the launch of several original series, including Making a Murderer (a late December debut), Fuller House (February), House of Cards Season 4 (March) and Daredevil Season 2 (March), complemented by a diverse mix of new films, documentaries, series and kids shows available globally.
“We started rolling out new and more efficient encodes during Q1, offering either 20% savings in data, or a commensurate increase in quality, depending on whether a consumer is bandwidth limited or not. This will be reflected in our ISP speed index reports as a small reduction in average bitrate across all ISPs, but most of the value is realized in improved quality for our customers”, continues the note. “We are now turning our attention to mobile specific encodes, with a desire to deliver better video at lower bandwidth to these devices, which are increasingly important in our newest markets.”
Netflix added that streaming of 4K content is growing as a share of total viewing, and that it is also rapidly expanding its High Dynamic Range (HDR) content catalogue.
