What you need to know
- A report states Netflix is looking to increase subscription prices of its standard and premium tiers in the U.S. and Canada first.
- While the potential size of the hike is unknown, Netflix will reportedly wait until the SAG-AFTRA actor strike ends and implement the increase "a few months" later.
- Netflix has steadily increased prices in the U.S. and other regions while also cutting prices by nearly half in other regions to retain users.
Netflix is reportedly in the early stages of a future price hike for its subscription plans. According to the Wall Street Journal, its sources allege Netflix's price hike will involve all of its ad-free subscriptions. However, this apparently won't take place until after the actor's (SAG-AFTRA) strike concludes.
At the moment, it hasn't been stated how large of a price increase Netflix is considering. What is evident through the report is that the streaming service is considering enacting such a hike in several regions around the world, with the U.S. and Canada potentially serving as the start of it.
The report doesn't quite narrow down how close this price increase is for consumers. The actors' strike is still underway in Hollywood, although they are currently working through negotiations, and depending on how things go, it could see a resolution relatively soon, especially since the writers' strike just came to an end.
Netflix subscribers are no strangers to price increases, as the company has steadily done so for a while now. As it now stands, the standard plan sits at $15.49/month, and the premium plan is available for $19.99/month. The company's new ad-supported plan is ready for interested consumers for $6.99 a month. Alongside this plan's rollout in the U.S., consumers were introduced to Netflix's new way of further monetizing the tier by including an additional $7.99 fee for those still looking to share their accounts.
Unfortunately, those are the only three options consumers with Netflix will find, considering it recently ditched the "Basic" tier altogether.
On a related note, Netflix is in an interesting spot with pricing when factoring in the latest price cuts in several countries earlier this year. While these cuts never saw the light of day in the U.S., places across Asia, Africa, and Latin America had subscription prices cut by nearly 50%.
This was a move in contrast to Netflix's originally stated plan of searching for spots they could afford to increase prices rather than decrease. However, this quick change of heart is likely due to Netflix attempting to hold onto subscribers in the aforementioned regions.
Android Central has reached out to Netflix for a comment and will update this article when we hear back.
