Indians pay more for Netflix than Japanese, Canadians but get less number of movies
In a list of top 10 cheapest countries to watch Netflix, India is at the last spot. Netflix India subscription plan, which begins at a monthly price of ₹500, is however cheaper than the US and UK but is expensive than Japan and Canada. Netflix India's library of movies and shows is also not as extensive, according to a report.
New Delhi: Although lower than major markets like the US, UK and European countries, video streaming platform Netflix is priced higher in India than 9 other countries, including Japan and Canada. According to a research report by Comparitech.com, Netflix’s India monthly subscription plan, which begins from ₹ 500, is the 10th cheapest among a list of 24 countries.
A country-by-country comparison of Netflix subscription plans shows that the cheapest place to watch Netflix is Turkey. At a monthly cost of just $3.27, it is almost 60% cheaper than the US and UK. Turkey is followed by Argentina, Brazil, Japan, Mexico, Colombia and Canada. “In fact, on a cost-per-month basis, the US and UK don’t fare too well, with the US ranking as the 26th cheapest place and the UK as the 25th. This is probably due to Netflix using the US, UK, Canada et. all to subsidize its growth elsewhere,” the report said.
Read: The fight among Netflix, Hotstar and Amazon Prime Video for booming market in ‘movie-mad’ India
The size of the Netflix library also varies from country to country. Due to its extensive library of anime, Japan has the largest number of movies and shows — about 6,000.
India, on the other hand, gets about 5,000 Netflix titles, out of which about 3,500 are movies.
The subscription plan of Netflix, which has already made a profit of ₹ 20 lakh in its second year of India operations, has been debated as two of its closest competitors — Amazon Prime Video and Hotstar — have much cheaper plans costing ₹ 999 per year.
The world’s No.1 OTT platform, which has announced that it has no plans to lower subscription rates in India, is however going to test mobile-only plan in some countries like Malaysia. If the mobile-only subscription plan works out in India, then the entry-level subscription plan may automatically become cheaper. The existing basic plan for Netflix, priced at ₹ 500 per month, allows a subscriber to watch movies and shows on laptop, phone, tablet and even TV.
Netflix’s first Indian original series was Sacred Games and since then, the OTT platform has announced 10 original series including Ghoul, Baahubali: Before the Beginning, Little Things, Typewriter, Selection Day, Bard of Blood, Leila, Midnight’s Children, Crocodile, Again and 13 original films: Love Per Square Foot (launched), Lust Stories (launched), Brij Mohan Amar Rahe (launched); Rajma Chawal, Soni, Chopsticks, Bulbul, Upstarts, Cobalt Blue, 15th August, Music Teacher, Hotel Mumbai and Fireband. Outside of series and movies, Netflix has stand-up comedy specials, a kid’s series, Mighty Little Bheem, and an unscripted series on the Mumbai Indians and the Indian Premier League (IPL).
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First Published:26 Nov 2018, 09:09 AM IST
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