Netflix tests an "Ultra" subscription to artificially inflate its rates – Business

In Germany and Italy, Netflix is ​​testing to see if users are willing to pay more for the same options.

Netflix thinks about the launch of an additional paid subscription called "Ultra" at 16.99 euros per month, discovered the Italian site TuttoAndroid July 3, 2018. This offer, more expensive than the others, would correspond to the features that offers today the price "Premium" to 13.99 euros per month. Tests are currently being carried out in Italy and Germany. The Hypothetical Ultra offer is also posted at 19.99 euros per month depending on geographical area and browsers, found 01Net.

The video-on-demand subscription platform (SVOD) confirmed to CNET that these tests were Well done: " At Netflix, we test things continuously, and these tests vary in their duration ," said Smita Saran, a spokeswoman for the company. " In this case, we are testing slightly different prices and features to understand how important consumers are to Netflix. »

Understanding: How much are Netflix subscribers willing to pay for this service?

Charging more for the same options ]

The new Ultra offer tested at this time may never see the light in this form, but it shows that Netflix is ​​seriously considering new ways to increase the cost of certain subscriptions.

To date, Netflix offers three monthly rates.

According to the screenshot obtained by TuttoAndroid, the tested Ultra offer is fixed at 16.99 euros per month. But it does not contain additional features compared to the Premium offer that exists today. In this test version, the Ultra tariff takes over the features of the Premium offer: HD, Ultra HD, High Dynamic Range (HDR) and 4 screens available.

However, the Premium offer would be stripped: it would pbad only 2 screens available simultaneously and no longer contain the HDR. In the Netflix Help Center, we read that the platform connects the HDR to a "Netflix 4-screen package", not in the name of a particular offer.

The Standard offer, for its part, would contain only one screen. In this hypothetical scenario, this means that users who currently have a Standard offer (10.99 euros) with two screens would be forced to switch to the Premium offer (13.99 euros) if they wanted continue to maintain their option two screens. This fourth offer would therefore be a more discreet way of raising its tariffs without increasing technically the cost of existing subscriptions.

When we consult the French page of registration to Netflix in France, there is also a proposal for Ultra subscription at 16.99 euros. But on this page, the Premium package remains at 4 screens – only the HDR changes.

The number of screens corresponds to the numbers of devices on which the same Netflix account can be used at the same time. If you have a basic, single-screen subscription, and someone else uses your access codes to watch content at the same time as you, the interface will block access. One of these messages will appear:

Netflix has margin

In October 2017, Netflix has already increased its rates for two of its subscriptions: Standard (+ 1 euro per month) and Premium (+ 2 euros per month). But the platform, which announced to have attracted 125 million subscribers worldwide in April 2018, still seems to have the margin. Asked last October by Les Echos, Netflix spokesman in Europe, Yann Lafargue, was not worried about the impact of a rise in prices on the growth of subscribers of the service.

A study of the Published Deutsche Bank of 2016 confirms this impression. On average, US users claimed to be willing to pay up to $ 17 for a subscription, almost double the average subscriber fee for a standard subscription at the time ($ 9.99). dollars). Since then, the Standard subscription has increased, as has the number of Netflix subscribers, both in the United States and abroad.