It seems Netflix’s efforts to earn more subscribers by cracking down on password sharing are bearing fruit, even as the streamer earned 6 million new subscribers during the second quarter of 2023. The strike on password sharing was started by the service in May this year.
In a letter addressed to shareholders, Netflix has written that nearly 6 million paying subscribers were added to the mix during the second quarter of this year. That’s an 8 percent increase in the number of subscribers of the popular streaming service.
The company has also pointed out that contrary to expectations, its push to stop password sharing hasn’t led to mass cancellations of accounts.
“The cancel reaction was low and while we’re still in the early stages of monetization, we’re seeing healthy conversion of borrower households into full paying Netflix memberships as well as the uptake of our extra member feature,” reads Netflix’s statement.
Following the crackdown on account sharing, subscribers cannot share their Netflix account with anyone outside their household. However, they can indeed purchase a ‘paid sharing’ option that allows subscribers to add an extra member in exchange for $8 a month.
Netflix now plans to extend its crackdown on password sharing to its final few markets that include India, Indonesia, Kenya and Croatia. However, these regions will not receive the ‘paid sharing’ option as they already have cheaper plans than the rest of the world.
It will, however, mean that Netflix subscribers in these regions will receive access to a tool that will let them transfer their profiles to a fresh account. It remains to be seen how people from these markets respond to this new move by the streaming company.