Netflix is finally looking towards a streaming future, with the death of DVD predicted, plans for services on other devices – notably the PS3 and Wii (probably) – and a move outside the United States and into unspecified international territories.
Netflix Of The Past
When Netflix formed in 1997 as a DVD by mail company in the United States, the Internet wasn’t the behemoth it is now, and online video was a concept rather than an actual living, breathing part of the Web.
Streaming video therefore wasn’t part of the plan for the company at that point. However, it introduced ‘Watch Instantly’ as part of its subscription service a few years ago and hasn’t looked back since.
Streaming Over DVD
Although DVD by mail is still Netflix’s main business, the ‘Watch Instantly’ feature is an increasingly important and popular part of it.
In the Q3 earnings report, CEO Reed Hastings revealed that 42 of subscribers have streamed at least 15 minutes of content from Netflix in the last three months. Which is a phenomenal result.
This followed a pronouncement earlier this month that DVD will only be the “primary delivery format” at the company for the next two years. While it wasn’t stated whether the move would be to Blu-ray or streaming, these results would suggest the latter is more likely.
International Plans
Netflix is currently a U.S.-only operation, but that looks like it could be changing in the very near future. As part of the earnings call, Hastings said:
“We’re looking to the second half of 2010 to make our streaming offering international. The plan is to start small in one market, prove out our model, and expand into other countries.”
This would be a streaming-only option, with hastings suggesting that postal systems abroad make that part of its business impossible. No country was mentioned as being first on the list but one with a high broadband take-up would be the most logical.
Hastings implied that a streaming-only subscription option wouldn’t be coming to the States anytime soon, which somewhat goes against what he said in February of this year.
Netflix Of The Future
Netflix’s ‘Watch Instantly’ is already available on a number of devices, including hybrid Blu-ray players, the Roku box, and the Xbox 360. But more are likely to follow, with the PS3 and Wii surely top of the list.
So the Netflix of the future is likely to be as much about streaming content as it is about physical media, available in countries other than the States, and a well-known component on a range of Internet-enabled devices.
This is a company going places in more ways than one.
