Netflix Password Sharing Scrutinized as Company Posts Strong 3rd Quarter Gains But Below Expectations

Netflix is Aware Password Sharing Could Be Affecting Profits

Netflix just posted their 3rd quarter profit report and they added 6.77 million paid net subscribers

The 6.77 million paid subscribers was a good number but it was below their 7 million target which now has them looking at Netflix password sharing as one possible solution to up these numbers even further.

Netflix has always been pretty liberal about allowing their customers to share their passwords to family members and friends outside the home network.

But with latest subscriber numbers not meeting their target this too could one day change. Both Apple TV and Disney+ are launching their streaming service in the 4th quarter which may limit new subscriber growth even further.

Netflix Knows Password Sharing Is Happening But Does Not Have any Plans to Eliminate it

Greg Peters Chief Product Officer for Netflix offered this statement when asked about Netflix password sharing, “We continue to monitor it. So we’re looking at the situation (and look into) consumer friendly ways to push on the edges.” But Peters also went on to say that Netflix has “no big plans” to announce in making it harder for this to exist on their streaming service quite yet.

Some Ways Password Sharing on Netflix is Already Limited

In some ways the company has already limited the amount of users who can share a single Netflix login account. By setting available limits on the amount to streams that can be watched at once according to the plan signed up for.

The lowest cost Netflix plan is limited to only one stream at a time and only offers SD resolution.

Their next plan is 1080P HD is limited to two users streaming at the same time.

Their premium Netflix Plan offers 4K Streams and only allows 4 users to stream at a time.

Compare this to how many devices you can stream on other Streaming TV Services here

What May Happen If Netflix Clampped Down on Password Sharing

Here are three things that could happen should Netflix ever put the brakes on password sharing altogether.

1. Netflix profits could increase dramatically as all those users leaching off their parents and friends accounts would rush out right away to subscribe. (Least Likely)

2. Many current customers would dump them in favor of other streaming services that offered more lenient account sharing rules. This would offset any intended subscriber growth and may lead to a decrease in over all subscribers. (More Likely)

3. New subscribers would offset those leaving and their subscriber base would remain the same. (Most Likely)

What Would You Do If Netflix Password Sharing Was Stopped?

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