What the business is
Subscription streaming service expanding across Asia-Pacific since 2016
How it started
Netflix's APAC push leaned on a mobile-first insight from VP of business development Tony Zameczkowski: the region was 'primarily mobile first, which is a big difference from any other part of the world'. In 2019 India got a mobile-only plan at 199 rupees (about $2.68) a month for standard definition on one screen, below the existing 499-799 rupee tiers.
What happened
Similar sub-$5 mobile plans rolled out in Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand, against a US standard plan of about $14. In 2020 Netflix partnered with Jio to bundle free mobile subscriptions into postpaid plans from 399 rupees and free basic plans with Jio's fixed broadband, and it spent $400 million on original and licensed content in India across 2019-2020, building 40-plus originals including Sacred Games. In South Korea it had invested more than $700 million since 2015 across partnerships and co-productions, with over 70 Korean live-action and anime titles.
What has to be true
The region's first-time internet users arrived on cheap Android phones, so a TV-priced plan missed most of the market
Jio's cheap data created the distribution; Netflix's job was to price into it rather than around it
Low ARPU was the trade: mobile tiers protected premium tiers while building the subscriber base
Local-language subtitles, dubs and interfaces lowered the barrier beyond price alone
What can be applied
Entering a price-sensitive market meant unlearning the home playbook: a $2.68 mobile-only tier traded ARPU for reach, and free bundles through Jio turned a telecom's subscriber base into a funnel.
Aftermath
As of November 2020 the strategy was delivering: APAC led all regions in paid net-adds, India was tracking toward 4.6 million subscribers, and the company said it would keep investing in Japan, Korea, India and Indonesia.
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