US Online Streaming Giant Netflix : Illustration (Photo : Getty Images)
From only 60 nations, video streaming service Netflix is now available in 190 countries. Netflix CEO and co-founder Reed Hastings announced the expansion to 130 more markets on Wednesday at the ongoing CES 2016.
Among the countries where Netflix would now be available are Vietnam, South Korea, India, Nigeria, Poland, Russia, Singapore, Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan, reports CNET. While the addition of 130 new markets gives birth to a global TV network, Hastings admits it still misses one-fourth of the worldwide market.
That because China is excluded from the list. Although Netflix, based in Los Gatos, California, aims to expand its reach to 200 nation by December 2016, it has not timetable when to reach the Asian giant. But Hastings says Netflix wants to reach China, although the video streaming giant would need to deal with a lot of bureaucracy and censorship to acquire a license to operate.
The overseas push aims to make up for the slowdown in the U.S. market which represents half of Netflix's 70 million subscribers. Besides China, Netflix is also not available in Crimea, North Korea and Syria due to Washington-imposed restrictions.
Hastings acknowledges that despite the addition of 130 new nations, Netflix still has a lot of work ahead of it to become truly a global TV network. "Because of the number of countries, it seems like we are ahead of plan. But we still have China - we still have a quarter of the world to go," quotes The New York Times.
Despite his optimism, industry observers are skeptical if Netflix could sustain its speed of expansion and deliver its promise. The addition of 130 markets translates into $6 million expenses for programming in 2016 to offer over 600 hours of original series, films and other video content.
