SNL Kagan: Netflix’s International Business Has Grown ‘Dramatically’

MONTEREY: SNL Kagan has analyzed Netflix's international business, reporting strong growth in the non-U.S. segment, despite the fact that it has yet to yield a profit for the company.

Netflix's international paid subs totaled 16.8 million at the end of 2014. The service’s first international launch, Canada, is its largest non-U.S. market, with about 30 percent penetration of broadband homes. The U.K. is a close second, while Brazil had the third-largest subscriber base and was the leader in Latin America. The Netherlands, which launched late in the third quarter of 2013, saw the strongest year-on-year growth, though.

Since Netflix launched in international markets during 2010, its percentage of subscribers outside of the U.S. has "dramatically changed," reports SNL Kagan. At year-end 2010, just 1.9 percent of the total was in non-U.S. territories, compared to 30.8 percent at the end of last year.

Netflix announced earlier ambitious growth plans to reach 200 countries by the end of 2016. The international division has not been profitable for Netflix, however, losing $159.8 million last year. That is an improvement from its 2013 loss of $274.3 million. Netflix estimates that the international division will be profitable overall by 2017.