Netflix's Pricing experiment for Indian audience

Indians love to buy 'Less', and buy 'More Often' - is a well-researched-and-acknowledged fact - This is the reason that sachets of shampoo / tea / hair-oil / etc. are the hottest selling commodities in India. the BIG NEWS is that even the World’s largest OTT platform; with 140M users worldwide; 'Netflix' is experimenting with this fact in India.

OTT = Over-the-Top media services.
Over the top is a term used to refer to content providers that distribute streaming media as a standalone product directly to viewers over the Internet, bypassing telecommunications, multichannel television, and broadcast television platforms that traditionally act as a controller or distributor of such content.

Netflix is to introduce Rs 65/week plan in India (This plan will allow access of Netflix only on mobile phones).

Netflix is the costliest OTT platform in India - Netflix’s actual plans start from Rs 500/month, and goes upto Rs 800/month, depending on the access of screens, and quality of videos.

India’s #1 player 'Hotstar' charges Rs 199/month
India's #2 player 'Voot' charges Rs 199/month
'Amazon Prime' charges Rs 129/month
'Zee5' charges Rs 99/month
'AltBalaji' is cheapest with Rs 100/3-months

No other country has a weekly plan as of now, except for India - And if this experiment works, it can change the entire dynamics of OTT in India.

Last question:
Should Netflix further lower their plans for India?

I think 'YES'. But, some experts believe otherwise:
Netflix isn’t interested in getting into price wars at all - It is going for a premium pricing strategy backed by good content. Dropping prices may get Netflix market share but it will be a one-way street and they will never be able to increase prices if they start dropping prices in response to competition. Also, at Rs 500/month their plans may be a less competitive rate when compared to other streaming platforms, but it’s still less than the price of two tickets at a multiplex - Moreover, it would be an over-generalisation and simplification to call all Indians price-sensitive. The market which the likes of Netflix caters to isn’t necessarily reflective of broader India and therefore isn’t that price conscious and this group is now hooked to Netflix and will take a membership even if the pricing goes up.



Credit:
Trak.in/tags/business/2019/04/06/netflix-launches-rs-65-plan-for-india-is-this-a-sachet-experiment-for-netflix/
En.wikipedia.org/wiki/Over-the-top_media_services
Qz.com/india/1525269/amazon-prime-hotstar-rival-netflix-didnt-raise-prices-in-india/
Impawards.com/

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