Netflix closes home DVD rental service, the origin of the company’s 25-year history
The streaming audiovisual content production and distribution giant Netflix has announced the closure at the end of the year of its rental and postal distribution service of series and movies on DVD, origin of the Los Gatos company 25 years ago and still offered through DVD.com. «After an incredible 25-year run, we have decided to liquidate DVD.com at the end of this year,» confirmed Ted Sarandos, co-CEO of Netflix, adding that the last DVDs will be shipped by the company on September 29, 2023.
0.5% of the multinational’s turnover
In fiscal year 2022, the DVD business brought Netflix annual revenues of $145.69 million (133 million euros), a figure that barely represents 0.5% of the multinational’s turnover. According to the company’s data, over the years the service has distributed more than 5.2 billion DVDs, with Tim Burton’s ‘Beetlejuice’ inaugurating the service in March 1998, while ‘The Blind Side’ (‘A Possible Dream’), a film starring Sandra Bullock, was the most popular title in the catalog. «Those iconic red envelopes changed the way people watched series and movies at home, and paved the way for the shift to streaming,» Sarandos noted.
A service launched in 2007
Netflix launched its streaming service in 2007, which in the first quarter of 2023 had a total of 232.5 million paying users worldwide, up 1.75 million subscribers from the last quarter of 2022, according to accounts released by the company.
Profit of US$1,305 million
In this regard, Netflix recorded a profit of 1,305 million dollars (1,189 million euros) in the first quarter of the year, representing a decrease of 18.2% compared to the same period of the previous year. Netflix’s revenues in the first quarter were 8.162 billion dollars (7.436 billion euros), 3.7% more than in the same period of the previous year.
Millions of subscribers
In terms of subscriber growth, in the United States and Canada the platform reached 74.40 million subscribers, while in Europe, the Middle East and Africa it reached 77.37 million.
A successful business
In Latin American countries, the company added up to 41.25 million subscribers, while in Asia-Pacific it reached 39.48 million users, according to data released by the platform.
Continues to grow
Looking ahead to the second quarter, the company expects to achieve revenue of $8.242 billion (€7.52 billion), which would be a 3.4% increase over the same period in 2022, while it anticipates an 11% drop in net profit to $1.283 billion (€1.171 billion). «We are on track to meet our financial targets for the full year 2023,» the company stressed.
