Streaming television service Netflix ended its most-recent financial quarter with 238.39 million global subscribers, an increase of nearly 6 million subscribers (2.5 percent) compared to its previous quarter, the company revealed on Wednesday.
The disclosure was made as part of the company’s second quarter earnings report, which revealed the service took in $8.19 billion in revenue during the three-month period that ended June 30.
During the quarter, Netflix took an aggressive stance against password-sharing among paying and non-paying customers, asking subscribers to pay a fee if they wanted to give freeloaders access to their accounts. On Wednesday, Netflix said the strategy, which it calls “paid sharing,” rolled out to over 100 countries.
Netflix also eliminated their lowest-price, commercial-free tier called “Basic” in at least three markets — the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada — a move that was intended to push customers toward either its low-price, ad-supported plan or its pricier commercial-free tier.
Executives said the moves are expected to help accelerate revenue growth during the second half of 2023 “as we start to see the full benefits of paid sharing plus continued steady growth in our ad-supported plan.”
Growth Stalls in U.S., Canada
In its domestic market, Netflix reported earning $3.599 billion in revenue from 75.57 million subscribers in the United States and Canada, representing a 1.5 percent increase in paid customers compared to the first quarter of 2023 and no growth in accounts compared to Q2 2022.
The company said its average revenue per user, or ARPU, fell to $16, a 1.1 percent decrease from the $16.18 reported during Q1 2023. Compared to Q2 2022, ARPU grew slightly from the $15.95 reported then.
- Revenue: $3.599 billion (+1.7% YOY)
- Paid Memberships: 75.57 million (0% YOY)
- Paid Net Additions: 1.17 million
- ARPU: $16.00 (-1.1% YOY)
New Subscribers Join in Overseas Markets
The majority of Netflix’s growth was concentrated on its international business, which includes localized versions of the streaming service sold to customers in Europe, the Middle East and Asia (EMEA); Latin America and Oceania (Australia, New Zealand, Pacific Islands).
In the EMEA region, Netflix posted $2.562 billion in revenue from 79.81 million paying customers. The company added 2.43 million subscribers during the second fiscal quarter, nearly three times the amount added during Q1 2023.
EMEA ARPU came in at $10.87, down 3 percent from the $11.17 reported during the same time frame last year and $0.02 lower than Q1 2023.
In Latin America, where Netflix began its crackdown on freeloading customers, the company added 1.22 million paid accounts to end Q2 2023 with 42.47 million customers. Latin American ARPU was $8.58 for the quarter, down $0.02 from Q1 and 1 percent lower than last year.
Oceanic revenue was $919 million for the quarter, after Netflix posted 1.07 million additional customers to end the three-month period with 40.55 million paying subscribers in that region. ARPU in Oceania was $7.66, down 4.6 percent compared to Q1 2022 and 13.3 percent lower than last year.
