With several conventional industries experiencing what seems like one of those all-time low seasons, the streaming has seen an upsurge in usage.
Several streaming companies from Netflix to ShowMax, have recorded a massive increase in watch time, number of concurrent subscribers, and other critical variables used in growth measurement.
Netflix, on its part, says they have gained 15.8 million paying customers in Q1, 2020, beating its internal expectations of 7 million subscribers by more than double. Europe was where the company saw massive growth, with 4.4 million new customers throughout the three months.
The massive gain experienced in the period under review increased the company’s total premium customer base to 182.9 million globally.
All of these have been attributed to staying at home orders, thus terming it as a temporary acceleration. Because of that, the company expects deceleration in both viewing and growth when stay at home orders are lifted.
The company expects to add 7.5 million paying subscribers globally in Q2, although they are uncertain.
Netflix Q1 2020 Revenue
The company posted $5.77 billion in revenue during the period, representing a 27.6 percent increase from the previous quarter. Netflix cited a stronger US dollar during the period as one of the major factors that slowed down growth in international revenue despite growth in subscriptions.
This is because the company charges some of its users internationally based on local currency, and a stronger US dollar means less cash after conversion. Like in Brazil, Netflix costs $8.50 per month for its standard package, but that figure is now $6.50 due to current forex exchange rates.
Coronavirus Impact on Netflix
Despite the unprecedented growth, Netflix’s business has also been affected in various ways. The company has been forced to pause the majority of production around the world; thus, some programming might be delayed slightly.
For Q2 releases, Netflix says this will only have a “modest” impact because most of the 2020 and 2021 programs have already been filmed and are in the post-production stage. What will be most affected, however, is dubbing in various languages.
