Netflix has issued a warning to crack down on account sharing around the world. In the future, if you want to borrow the password of a family member, friend, or general friend, it may not be so easy. According to Netflix, more than 30 million households in the U.S. and Canada use shared passwords to enter and watch videos. There may be more than 100 million households worldwide using shared passwords.
In quarterly shareholder letters, Netflix admitted that it deliberately indulged in out-of-home account sharing because it could make users addicted to the service. But now that the competition is getting fiercer, Netflix wants to pay for it from households that use shared passwords.
In the first quarter that ended on March 31, Netflix lost 200,000 paid members, for the first time in more than 10 years. Netflix even pessimistically predicts that it will lose 2 million subscribers in the second quarter. Netflix currently has about 222 million members worldwide.
Why tolerate account sharing? Netflix co-CEO Reed Hastings has said the company is still doing well without forceful action. For years, Netflix has wanted to create a consumer-friendly image for the brand and allowing account sharing helps shape that image. But now the situation has changed, growth has stagnated, and the company’s attitude has to change.
Earlier in the year, Netflix began testing new ways to crack down on account sharing in Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru. Netflix could expand the crackdown in these countries, charging extra for accounts that share passwords outside of their homes. As for how to act globally, Netflix did not disclose, it only hinted that there could be big changes as soon as 2023.