Netflix Habits Vary Around the World

Summary: Netflix is a popular program across the globe as availability increased but the increase has pointed out differing habits based on where users live.

Netflix announced they were going big in January at the Consumers Electronics show by doubling the number of countries it reaches to 130 from 60. Since then the trends set by users have been surprising. While it shouldn’t come as a surprise that no two nations have the same viewing habits, other habits that would have been assumed to be alike were not.

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Netflix has seen a large growth from 2014 to 2015. In the fourth quarter of 2015, users watched 12 billion hours of programs on Netflix, which was a 45.5 percent increase from the same quarter in 2014.

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Six trends that Netflix learned from the last few months are as follows:

– The primary device is different around the world.

In places like India, South Korea and Japan, users are more likely to use their phones to watch shows. In places like the U.S., South America, and Australia, users tend to prefer their televisions to watch shows on. African, Middle Eastern, and Southeast Asian users prefer tablets but some parts of Africa, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe like desktop or laptop computers.

– Mobile is not the most important device yet.

Forty-two percent of all signups were done on desktops or laptops last year. Phones were a distant second with only 27 percent.

– The device used to sign up is not what users stick with.

While users signed up for Netflix using all the types of devices, many ended up using their televisions after a month and especially after six months. The one main exception to this was tablet users. They kept using tablets except around the six month mark these users dwindled off.

– Smartphone type depends on region of the world.

The iPhone was more popular in the U.S. and Canada while Mexico users generally preferred Android smartphones. The Android is also more popular in South America but Eastern Europe and Australia liked the iPhone.

– Wi-Fi is not available everywhere yet.

Developed countries have greater access to Wi-Fi so that they don’t have to worry about going over on their data plans. Less developed areas like the Sudan, Tanzania, Central African Republic, Finland, and Guinea don’t have this ability but are still able to view high amounts of content.

– Partnerships are the future for Netflix.

Vice-President of device partner ecosystem at Netflix, Scott Mirer, noted during his speech at the Mobile World Congress that Netflix wants to expand their global partnerships not undermine traditional cable providers. He explained, “I think cord cutting is great rhetoric to sell ads and generate readership. And there’s a story in there about overall long-term changes in the industry, but it’s not the disaster story that I think it’s made out to be.” Many cable and cellular companies use Netflix in their marketing campaigns.

Source: http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/6-ways-netflix-mobile-habits-vary-around-world-169848

Photo: lifehacker.com