Netflix is suffering the consequences of its anti-account sharing policy, registering a significant drop in its number of users.
According to analyst firm Kantar, Netflix has seen a significant loss of users in Spain, with an alarming figure of one million people leaving the streaming service in the first quarter of 2023. is no coincidence, as in February the company implemented its new end-of-account-sharing policy in the country.
Netflix loses over a million users
In early February, Netflix introduced a €5.99 fee for Spanish users wishing to share their account with another household. The streaming platform also has detection measures in place to spot shared accounts, monitoring IP addresses, account IDs and customer activity.
According to Kantar, more than two-thirds of departed users were using a password from another account, based on analysis of each household’s habits. Subscription cancellations in the first three months of the year are three times higher than in the previous period, and a tenth of Spanish subscribers said they planned to unsubscribe in the second quarter.
What are the effects of the end of account sharing in France?
The experience of Spanish subscribers makes it possible to anticipate a similar situation during the implementation of the end of free account sharing in France. Although the exact date has not yet been announced, it should be deployed this summer in most countries, including France.
In 2022, Netflix had 10.5 million French subscribers, but this new policy could lead to a significant loss of subscribers in the months to come. In addition to the financial problems, SVOD users also criticize the decline in quality of the original programs and the constantly shrinking catalog. The end of account sharing could therefore be the last straw that broke the camel’s back.
Currently, Netflix faces stiff competition from platforms like Amazon’s Prime Video, which offers hit series such as The Boys et The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Viewers now have a choice and many of them could turn to other streaming platforms. In addition, Canal+ recently announced the arrival of Apple TV+ at no extra charge, not to mention Disney+.
Fewer users, higher paid subscriptions?
Netflix saw a wave of subscription cancellations in every market as it announced its new end-of-account-sharing policy. The move doesn’t seem surprising, since it’s aimed at ending account sharing abuse that has cost the company millions of dollars in lost revenue each year.
Despite this wave of cancellations, Netflix hopes the drop will only be temporary. The company cites the case of Canada, where revenue growth has accelerated since the new policy was introduced. The streaming giant hopes this trend will repeat itself in the other countries where the new policy has been put in place.
