Netflix Reaches 150 Million Subscribers, But Q2 Growth Almost Half of Expectations

Netflix announced their Q2 earnings today and while the service’s paid memberships grew by 2.7 million worldwide, the number was less than their 5 million projections and the 5.5m subscribers they added the same quarter a year ago. In fact, the company lost 126,000 subscribers in the U.S., while gaining 2.83 million internationally. The company now has 151.6 million paid subscribers around the world, with 60 million of those coming in the U.S.

With recent price hikes, removal of popular content as well as looming competition from Disney+, HBO Max and NBCUniversal’s unnamed streaming service on the horizon, Netflix echoed chief content officer, Ted Sarandos’ previous statement in that more streaming services merely give consumers more options and admitted they only take up 10% of consumers’ television time, and less of their mobile screen time.

The company stated, “Over the next 12 months, Disney, Apple, WarnerMedia, NBCU and others are joining Hulu, Amazon, BBC, Hotstar, YouTube, Netflix, and many others in offering streaming entertainment. The competition for winning consumers’ relaxation time is fierce for all companies and great for consumers. The innovation of streaming services is also drawing consumers to shift more and more from linear television to streaming entertainment.”

With a strong slate of shows like Stranger Things, Orange Is The New Black, and The Crown, the company expects to grow by seven million paid memberships (with 0.8m in the US and 6.2m internationally) in the third quarter — more than the 6.1m a year ago.