Netflix Introduction

1. History

• Netflix Inc. is an American provider for on-demand internet flowing media in the US, Canada, UK and Ireland. The company was created in 1997 by Reed Hastings. The Netflix website was launched in April 1988. Netflix introduced the monthly subscription idea in September 1999.Netflix has been one of the most successful dot-com ventures.
  

"A The New York Times article from September 2002, said that, at the time, Netflix mailed about 190,000 discs per day to its 670,000 monthly subscribers."

• On October 1, 2008, Netflix announced a partnership with Starz Entertainment to bring 2,500 plus new movies and television shows to Watch Suddenly in what is being called Starz Play.
• The field netflix.com fascinated at least 194 million visitors annually by 2008.
• By 2009 they had a collection of 1000,000 titles on DVD, by this time they had 10 million subscribers.
• In August 2010, Netflix announced it had reached a five-year deal worth nearly $1 billion to stream movies from Paramount, Lionsgate and MGM.
• On October 24, 2011, Netflix announced it lost 800,000. Netflix had a loss in every quarter in this year.
• 2012 – Netflix launches in the United Kingdom and Ireland

     2. Business Model

• Netflix the company has built its status on the business model of flat-fee unlimited rentals without due dates, late fees, shipping or handling fees, or per title rental fees.
• The main business strategy used by Netflix is overall cost, offering their services at a price lower than what any of the competitor could offer at that moment

     3. Competitors

Netflix's success has stimulated a number of other DVD rental companies both in the United States and abroad, but none of the online companies appear to approach Netflix in terms of market share or revenues.

Netflix has quoted Amazon.com as a potential competitor, which until 2008 offered online video rentals in the UK and Germany (now sold to LoveFilm), but has remained timid about any similar intentions for the North American market. Amazon bought Lovefilm in 2011

• Blockbuster and Movie Gallery were also competitors to Netflix but Netflix has also been credited with playing a large part in the bankruptcy and shrinkage of these movie rental chains.
• Redbox is also another competitor that uses a kiosk approach: rather than mailing DVDs, customers pick up and return DVDs at self-service kiosks located in metropolitan areas. The owners of Redbox were rumoured to be launching an online streaming service some time in 2011, but no news has come since early 2011. The cost of this service has been speculated at $3.95 per month were Netflix is only $1 a month for normal DVD’s and $2 a month for blue ray.
• Zip.ca was a competitor in Canada.
• "Several strategic initiatives to promote increased use of streaming video were under way in 2010. NBC Universal—the owner of Hulu; ABC’s parent Walt Disney; and Fox Entertainment’s parent, News Corp—had announced plans to begin offering a premium service for $10 per month that would provide a bigger library of TV shows to watch."