Netflix hasn’t been shy about its plans for world domination, and by sometime next year the streaming company might put a big piece of the puzzle in place.
The Times of India quotes the ubiquitous sources familiar with the matter, who claim Netflix is gearing up to enter India by 2016.
From TOI:
Netflix, has firmed up plans to enter India by 2016, according to people familiar with the matter. This has sent domestic DTH players into a tizzy with some of the major ones chalking out strategies to diversify beyond television. On the cards are iconic shows including Buniyaad, Nukkad and Malgudi Days on various mobile devices across iOS and Android.
India is a huge and emerging market for sure, but there are some hurdles in the way – most notably spotty internet. But major carriers are in the process of rolling out 4G across the country, so it would be lucrative time for Netflix to join the streaming party.
A streaming party which, according to TOI, exists but isn’t all the impressive or dominant.
A Netflix spokesperson only had this to say:
“We have said we plan to be nearly global by the end of 2016. We have nothing else to share at this point.”
And that’s true.
“Our international expansion strategy over the last few years has been to expand as fast as we can while staying profitable on a global basis. Progress has been so strong that we now believe we can complete our global expansion over the next two years, while staying profitable, which is earlier than we expected. We then intend to generate material global profits from 2017 onwards,” said CEO Reed Hastings at a recent earnings call.
Netflix is also looking for ways into China, another massive market. But that road may be a bit tougher.
Netflix’s last big move was into Australia and New Zealand back in March.