*The streaming leaders has said its hope to add 2.5million subscribers in the first three months of 2022 came up ‘drastically empty, while the company also lost 200,000 subscribers in Q1, blaming lull on competition, sluggish economic growth, increasing inflation, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

Netflix’s growth seems to have hit the proverbial wall, in connection with the latest unveiling of the streaming leading company’s first-quarter earnings Tuesday, April 19, 2022.

ConsumerConnect learnt the firm stated that its hope to add 2.5 million subscribers in the first three months of 2022 came up empty – drastically empty.

Instead, it lost 200,000 subscribers in Q1 and expects to lose two million more by the end of June.

The company’s reported revenue was up 10 percent to $7.9 billion, likely due to an increase in subscription prices.

However, report indicates the company’s quarterly profit was slightly down at $1.6 billion; the company earned $1.7 billion during the same timeframe in 2021.

The sting from the company’s admission was swift and strong, with its stock value falling as much as 25% in after-hours trading.

While Netflix admits that its revenue growth has slowed considerably, company officials are reportedly telling investors that streaming is winning over “linear” TV (e.g., a regular TV network like CBS.)

Officials also claim that Netflix titles are very popular globally.

Company at a crossroads

Netflix stopped short of blaming COVID-19 for the downturn in revenue, but it did say the pandemic-driven surge in streaming had an effect, report stated.

The company said in a filing: “The big COVID boost to streaming obscured the picture until recently.

“However, our relatively high household penetration – when including the large number of households sharing accounts – combined with competition, is creating revenue growth headwinds.”

It didn’t stop there with its blame game. It also pointed its finger at “sluggish economic growth, increasing inflation, [and] geopolitical events such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine”

There’s also a tsunami of competition that Netflix didn’t count on facing. In its filing, the company pointed to Prime Video (Amazon), Disney+, Hulu, and YouTube as “robust” competitors that were created by traditional entertainment companies that realized streaming is the future.

It was gathered the two competitors that Netflix charted with the most growth were Prime Video and Disney.

However, it claims that its subscribers seem to be happy and that its US television viewing share has been steady or ascending, according to Nielsen.

“We want to grow that share faster. Higher view share is an indicator of higher satisfaction, which supports higher retention and revenue,” the company stated.