Netflix crossed the 200 million streaming paid membership mark in the fourth quarter, ending 2020 with a global total of 203.66 million.
This, according to the company in its latest set of results, was 21.9% more than in the same period a year earlier, while the number in Q4 increased by 8.51 million.
In the full year, Netflix added a record 37 million paid memberships, achieved $25 billion in annual revenue (+24% year-on-year) and grew operating profit 76% to $4.6 billion.
Netflix notes that the 37 million paid net additions in 2020 was 31% more than the 28 million posted in 2019. Moreover, the service is becoming increasingly global, with 83% of its paid net additions in 2020 coming from outside the US and Canada. EMEA accounted for 41% of full-year paid additions, with APAC being the second largest contributor with 9.3 million, up 63% year-on-year.
Netflix says that its productions are back up and running in most regions. Over 500 titles are currently in post-production or preparing to launch on its service and it plans to release at least one original film every week in 2021.
Commenting on growing competition from the likes of Disney+ and Discovery’s recently-launched streaming service, Netflix says that “this signifies that these companies all recognise the future is streaming entertainment, a vision we have been working towards since inception.
“Our strategy is simple: if we can continue to improve Netflix every day to better delight our members, we can be their first choice for streaming entertainment. This past year is a testament to this approach. Disney+ had a massive first year (87 million paid subscribers!) and we recorded the biggest year of paid membership growth in our history”.
Netflix forecasts revenues of $7,129 million in this quarter, or 23.6% more than in Q1 2020. Its net income is projected to be $1.355 million and the number of global streaming paid memberships 209.66 million at the end of March.
