Netflix on course for slowest growth since DVD rental era

Fear Street Part Two: 1978

Netflix is set for its slowest quarterly growth in a decade.

According to The Guardian, the streamer will announce an addition of one million new subscribers. This is a far cry from Q2 2020, when the company added 10.1 million subscribers during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Netflix added some 37 million subscribers during 2020, taking its global userbase to over 200 million.

By contrast, this quarter will be the slowest since 2011, when streaming was a relatively nascent complement to Netflix’s DVD rental business.

The Guardian report, citing figures from Ampere, suggests that the typically Gen-Z and Gen-Y focused Netflix will look to older consumers as its next major area for growth. With most young people either already having a subscription, being in a household with a subscriber or sharing a password with friends and family, there is little room for growth.

The report notes that 80% of Brits aged 18-34 have access to the streamer, dropping to 70% of 35-44s, 62% of 45-54 year olds, and 50% of 55-64 year olds.

While Netflix’s slow growth in 2021 may have been a cause for concern, the company had predicted a pull-forward effect from the pandemic and has outwardly presented itself as confident in spite of this bump in the road.

The streamer is also facing increasing competition, notably from Disney+ which has published a number of the year’s most-talked-about event television series.