Netflix has now started increasing its prices in Europe, starting in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
For the moment two out of three of its subscription variants are becoming more expensive in Germany, with the exception of the basic tier, which remains unchanged at €7.99 per month.
The price of the medium tier, which includes HD quality and simultaneous usage on two devices, will rise from €10.99 to €11.99 per month.
The most expensive tier, which includes Ultra-HD picture quality and higher-quality sound with simultaneous use on up to four devices, the monthly fee goes up to €15.99 from 13.99.
New customers will pay the increased prices immediately, for existing users the increase takes effect next month. This is the second price increase in Europe since August 2015.
Netflix justifies the price increases with the broad range of in-house productions for which the streaming service spends a lot of money. Netflix has survived previous price rounds without any loss of users. According to the latest figures, the service has 5.2 million users in Germany and a total of 139 million worldwide.
Last month, Netflix started testing new UK pricing – read: higher pricing.
Recent research from The Diffusion Group suggests Netflix’s current round of price increases may have significant implications.
“The data nugget cited is solid, but it is incomplete without context,” wrote Michael Greeson, President of TDG, in an email to Broadband TV News.
“In no way does TDG think a $1 increase in the monthly cost of Netflix will result in significant exodus of subscribers. That’s not what the data says. My interpretation is that Netflix, Amazon Prime Channels, and Hulu (the Big-3 SVOD aggregators) need to be careful about further price increases, as research suggests they are nearing a ceiling. In 12 months, that ceiling may change—such as consumer tolerances.”
