Netflix Plans Price Hike Amid Strong Quarterly Results

LOS GATOS: Netflix, which reported first-quarter earnings and revenue that were up from a year ago, is planning to increase prices for new subscribers by $1 to $2 per month, depending on the country.

Netflix said that existing members would stay at current pricing "for a generous time period." It raised its prices by 1 euro in Ireland in January and saw "limited impact" from the increase. "These changes will enable us to acquire more content and deliver an even better streaming experience," Netflix said in its letter to shareholders.

Overall, for the first quarter, Netflix reported a profit of $53 million, up from $3 million a year ago. Revenue increased 24 percent to $1.27 billion.

Netflix had 48.4 million subscribers in the recent quarter and, looking ahead, predicts a gain of nearly 1.5 million in the current quarter. The company has added more than 8 million new streaming subs in the past two quarters. “We are approaching 50 million global members, but that is far short of HBO’s 130 million. We are eager to close the gap,” Netflix said.

In the U.S., Netflix had 35.7 million subs at the end of Q1, and is expecting this to increase to 36.2 million by the end of Q2. Internationally, the service added 1.75 million subscribers in Q1 2014 and hopes to add a further 940,000 by the end of Q2 2014. "International revenues currently amount to 25 percent of our total streaming revenue and we anticipate our international segment to eventually surpass our U.S. market, similar to other Internet firms," Netflix said.