Netflix growth in international markets continues unabated amid signs of a slowdown in the United States.
An additional two million subscribers (members) were added internationally, but year on year net additions in the US were down (1.3 million in Q3 2013 to 1 million in Q3 2014).
The streamer is blaming price increases for the shortfall, though revenues of $1.22 billion remained buoyant. Netflix ended the quarter with 53 million subscribers.
“For the last three quarters, we underestimated our growth and over performed,” CEO Reed Hastings told CNBC. “This quarter, it was the other side. We estimated too high, we came in below that.”
Netflix hold 15.84 million international subscribers; international revenue grew 89% year-on-year following a series of high profile launches.
France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium and Luxembourg debuted in September and in the past few days the Netflix app has gone live on set-top boxes from SFR in France and Deutsche Telekom in Germany.
Further deployments are anticipated from Orange and Bouygues in France, and Belgacom in Belgium.
The company said it would absorb changes in VAT laws in most of Europe, starting January, that moves payment from the country of origin to country of destination.
Early international launches including Canada and the Netherlands are now “collectively profitable”.
