Why has Netflix seen such a dramatic drop in subscribers?
On Tuesday, the streaming giant shocked Wall Street and its shareholders when it announced a 200,000 subscriber drop as part of its first-quarter earnings report. While that number may not seem large compared to the total 222 million paying customers it still has, this is the first time in about a decade that Netflix has seen a loss of subscribers. Additionally, the company projects it will lose 2 million more subscribers in Q2.
Several factors contributed to the company’s growing cancellations, including pandemic production stoppages, a price increase, and the fact there are simply so many competitors vying for customers’ streaming dollars.
The pandemic bubble burst
The first two years of the pandemic proved a boon to Netflix as millions of people stayed home and binged original series like “Tiger King” and “The Queen’s Gambit.”