Competition forces Netflix to roll out a lower-priced mobile-screen plan in India

Growing competition in the Indian OTT space is forcing the players to relook at their content, pricing and business strategies. Netflix, which has one of the highest OTT subscription rates in the country, has now decided to roll out a lower-priced mobile-screen plan in India to complement its existing plans. 

In its letter to shareholders on its Q2 earnings, Netflix had written, “After several months of testing, we’ve decided to roll out a lower-priced mobile-screen plan in India to complement our existing plans. We believe this plan, which will launch in Q3, will be an effective way to introduce a larger number of people in India to Netflix and to further expand our business in a market where Pay TV ARPU is low (below $5). We will continue to learn more after launch of this plan.”

In March this year, there were media reports on Netflix testing a low-cost subscription plan to target the mobile friendly Indian audience, who form a big chunk of the market in Tier 2 and 3 markets. The OTT platform was reportedly charging as low as Rs 250 per month as subscription fee for the mobile-only plan, which is half the price of their cheapest plan for desktop subscribers. 

Currently, Netflix has three plans for India – Basic plan (SD) of Rs 500, Standard plan (HD) of Rs 650, and Premium plan (Ultra HD) of Rs 800. 

Also read: Indepth: Analysing OTT platforms’ ‘sachet’ hook for consumers 

A couple of days back, Netflix announced as many as five new original series across a variety of genres, including Young Adult, drama, thriller, horror and comedy. Continuing Netflix’s investment in Indian content and long-term commitment to the Indian creative community, the five series will be developed in collaboration with leading Indian studios – from Shah Rukh Khan’s Red Chillies Entertainment and Anushka Sharma and Karnesh Sharma’s Clean Slate Films to Mutant Films. This is in addition to the second season of its hugely popular show ‘Sacred Games’, which will premiere on August 15, 2019. 

OTT players have been adopting various methods to shore up their subscription and revenues, including introducing sachet pricing and entering into strategic partnerships with telecom operators.