Netflix may launch lower cost subscription plan to boost presence in India

Video streaming site, Netflix, is planning to experiment with pricing models to boost its presence in India. They may even roll out a lower cost subscription plan to bring in more customers. "We are just getting started in India. We will experiment with other pricing models and see how that does in terms of being able to accelerate our growth and get more access. But even on the existing model, we feel like we have a long runway ahead of us in India," said Greg Peters, chief product officer, as mentioned in a report in The Economic Times.

With their plans starting at Rs 500 per month, Netflix is currently the most expensive streaming service in India. Its competitors are rolling out subscriptions for half the price. Lower pricing is likely to give a boost to Netflix's subscriber base.

India's video streaming market that is still in its initial stages is currently dominated by Star India's Hotstar and Amazon Prime Video.

According to consultancy firm PwC, India's video streaming market is growing at a CAGR of 22.6%. It is likely to become one of the top ten video streaming markets by 2022 with revenues of Rs 5,595 crore, as mentioned in the daily.

Netflix co-founder and CEO Reed Hastings said in an interview that they will take one million phone users at a time and figure out how to expand the market as it grows. CFO David Wells said that they are super encouraged with India and the growth they've got but also acquiesced that it is a tough market.

Netflix also plans to spend more than $8 billion on original programming in India this year. In that vein, the company has already released two original series Sacred Games and Ghoul and has commissioned around nine more.

CCO Ted Sarandos that content like Sacred Games, Ghoul and original movie Love Per Square Foot has helped in creating awareness of the service. He said that they want to make the product feel more local and more relevant to India.  

Hastings said that, additionally, they are planning to expand Netflix's programming to other Indian languages and explore bundling partnerships in India.

Netflix is also planning to double its headcount in the India unit from 30 to 60 in the coming months. They are planning to hire across departments.