Netflix reported a slightly lower than expected gain in global subscribers at the end of 2021, but in Europe numbers rose.
The streamer reported a net gain of 8.28 million subscribers for Q4, to reach 221.8 million total worldwide. The company had previously forecast 8.5 million new subscribers for the period.
In EMEA, Netflix reported 3.5 million subscribers new subscribers during the final quarter of 2021, raising the total number of subscribers across the region to 74 million.
In a letter to shareholders, the company acknowledged that “added competition” from other companies with streaming services “may be affecting [Netflix’s] marginal growth some” but noted that Netflix has continued to grow in regions where other competitors have launched.
“This reinforces our view that the greatest opportunity in entertainment is the transition from linear to streaming and that with under 10 per cent of total TV screen time in the US, our biggest market, Netflix has tremendous room for growth if we can continue to improve our service,” the letter said.
Netflix set a new forecast of 2,5 million additional subscribers for Q1 2022, which it said would be down to a “back-end weighted content slate” due to one of its biggest releases of the year, season two of Bridgerton, set for March.
