REPORT: Netflix to Grow to 262 Million Subscribers

When compared to other streaming services, Netflix holds a strong lead in total subscribers, with just shy of 120 million global subscriptions. And if a new analysis is to be believed, this number is going to continue to grow rapidly over the next few years. 

Citi Research has just released a new report suggesting that Netflix is on pace to grow to 262 million global subscribers, with 72% US market penetration, and 37% global.

“At a high level, our $305 price target implies that in ten years Netflix has 262 million total subs (representing 72% U.S. penetration, 37% penetration of other developed markets, and 21% penetration of emerging markets ex-China),” said analysts Mark May and Hao Yan.

Currently, the next highest streaming subscription numbers are Amazon Video. A recently leaked report suggested that Amazon has around 25 million active Amazon Video streamers. This number is unconfirmed by Amazon, and is considerably higher than what we would have thought, as we ran a survey months ago that found a large percentage of Amazon Prime members were unaware they had access to a streaming library. 

Netflix has been aggressive in new content acquisition over the past year, stepping up the number of Netflix originals and exclusives available in their library. In a growing competition on the streaming market, the strongest way to grow subscribers is a hit show. A source at Hulu told us the biggest spike in subscribers the streaming service had seen yet was following their Emmy win for ‘The Handmaid’s Tale.’ Netflix has scaled their original content output to a level that makes it almost impossible for yours truly to keep up each month.

(h/t Forbes)