Much is being said about Netflix in the last few days for his movement to remove shared accounts as we knew them until now. It is difficult not to see it as a covert increase in prices, since not so long ago the platform itself encouraged users to share their passwords. For my part, I am clear that it has been a monumental mistake.
A decision to some extent inevitable due to Wall Street’s demands towards the world of streaming, but it is not the only thing that Netflix had to update and now It has run out of excuses to catch up on one of its big differences with the rest of the platforms. I am referring to the fact that there are several different subscription plans in which the main change right now is in the discrimination in image quality.
Incomprehensible in 2023
In the middle of 2023 it is incomprehensible that a platform offers a plan with an image quality that barely reaches 720p resolution, but also that 4K is considered a premium format when its competitors already include it by default. I already told you a few days ago that right now in Spain it is more expensive to have access only to Netflix with all its benefits than the sum of Disney +, Amazon Prime and HBO Max.
It is true that Netflix has introduced the subaccounts, which allows access to three different households to the same account for a little less than 10 euros per head, but it is also clear that what the platform is looking for is not that everyone does that, but it is what they deserve what happens And it is that Netflix does not offer any type of discount, as if the leaders took it for granted that it is the platform that must be had and that the losses will be insignificant due to the additional income.
The problem that they are perhaps ignoring is that of the image. Netflix has gone from being your friend platform to your enemy that mercilessly cancels your favorite series. Of course, they might not have existed if it weren’t for Netflix, but the way many see it has changed and it will be very difficult to remedy it. For this reason, I do believe a lot those who say that from now on they will occasionally sign up for a few months to see what interests them and then choose to unsubscribe immediately. And no surprises if that strategy is extended when it comes up in conversations between friends. The effect may not be immediate, but the seed is already planted.
What is then the solution that Netflix has left to partially mitigate the bad feelings that they left by even daring to accuse those who shared an account of being responsible for not making better movies or series? A rationalization of prices and that there is only a single plan with 4K and all the additional features. Well, they can also keep another one with cheaper advertising, but without the nonsense of the 720p image. That shouldn’t even be an option.
Taking into account what they themselves have introduced with the sub-accounts, it seems logical to think that around 10 euros would be their thing, but let’s be real, we live in a world where streaming prices are on the rise. Even keeping the 12.99 euros that the Standard Plan now costs sounds to a certain extent reasonable, because what they are not going to achieve is that those who shared a Premium Plan are going to get a new account and pay more for something with worse characteristics. Let’s not even talk about each one becoming a Premium, which is unsustainable to ask for 17.99 euros per home with all the competition out there.
a necessary change
Obviously, there will be those who say that this amount is absurd, especially if we take into account that the launch of SkyShowtime has recently been announced at a regular price of 5.99 euros and an offer of a 50% lifetime discount on the cost. of that moment of the platform. Whether you like Netflix more or less, it is undeniable that its catalog is very extensive and that asking for a discount up to those amounts does not go beyond a desire in which users always win and everything comes out cheap. It will not be the case.
However, what Netflix should have is not only this rationalization of prices, it also requires a strategy so that it is not so easy to unsubscribe and return. A discount for committing yourself for a year like many others do right now? I am the first one that in a month I thought of temporarily unsubscribing from HBO Max but I did not want to lose the 50% discount that they launched at the time, so I stayed there, even when I could go weeks without seeing something on the platform.
And it is that one of the great advantages of Netflix has always been its comfort, but now precisely that can turn against it. If you can leave and come back as if nothing had happened, don’t be surprised that little by little more people are doing it. At least if they do nothing more than restrict shared accounts. What is bread for today is clear, what remains to be seen is to what extent it can become hunger for tomorrow. That as they trust, they end up being the new Blockbuster, but when it went under…
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