Reports would suggest that Netflix is looking at going global soon. According to AdWeek, the company has been talking with advertising and media agencies about "potential international assignments".
Netflix has made quite a name for itself in the United States over the years, and finally, just this year, expanded into Canada with a streaming-only service. This was the company’s first foray into another country.
The climate would appear to be getting more suitable for a large-scale global expansion for a company like Netflix, based on streaming-only service if nothing else. New connected devices are rapidly becoming available, and it is presumably much easier for Netflix to provide a streaming catalog than worry about DVDs and their regional formats.
Granted, we don’t know that any international expansion would definitely consist of streaming-only options, but given the move in Canada, it seems likely. It’s also worth considering that the company has been putting a great deal more effort into the streaming side of its business here in the U.S. lately as well.
Netflix recently launched its first streaming-only service in the U.S. and has frequently been making deals to bolster its streaming catalogue, which is far less impressive than its DVD offerings, so far.
In fact, that’s the main drawback I see for Netflix’s future international endeavors. I like to believe that a large part of why Netflix has been able to find such a strong customer base in the U.S. is not only the convenience of the home delivery of DVDs (without late fees), but also the massive catalogue of titles, including many otherwise hard-to-find films.
The market for online streaming is much more competitive than the DVD-to-your-door market.
