Netflix grows to 158 million subscribers as Disney+ looms

Netflix just released its results for Q3 in 2019 (PDF), showing that it added slightly fewer subscribers (6.77 million) than the 7 million it anticipated, while still notching an all-time record for the quarter. The company cited lower retention rates in the US since its most recent price hike, and justifies with a statement that "With more revenue, we'll continue to invest to improve our service to further strengthen our value proposition."

The one thing the company's investor letter seeks to convince people is that the problem isn't competition, with the likes of Amazon Prime and Hulu already here ahead of Disney+ and Apple TV+ launching later this year with HBO Max and Peacock waiting in the wings.

Specifically it pulled up a growth chart for Netflix in Canada (as measured by penetration in broadband connected homes) to compare with the US to claim that Hulu's impact on it doesn't really exist. With more competition incoming, soothing investor's nerves will be key. When Disney is dropping three hour trailers for the video it has, the Netflix library will be compared, top to bottom, with these new entrants.

It said that flagship series Stranger Things notched its "most watched season to date" with 64 million member households watching in the first four weeks, and noted expanding investment in non-English originals. Disney and Apple are launching at lower prices, but will take time to offer as wide of a range of items as Netflix already has -- and may have to raise prices eventually just like Netflix in order to be profitable.

Update: Netflix has posted the video interview portion of its earnings release, we've embedded it below and will update this post with any interesting statements.

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