Netflix lost a million subscribers
(Picture: REUTERS)Netflix lost nearly a million subscribers in the three months to June as the cost of living crisis hit the streaming giant's profits.
The world's largest streaming service said it had lost 970,000 customers, avoiding the worst-case scenario of two million projected by the company.
It followed a drop of 200,000 earlier this year - the first such fall in a decade. Netflix estimated its new customer additions for July through September would amount to 1 million.
In the UK, Netflix's share of new subscribers fell to just 4.5 per cent - a decrease from 15 per cent in the same period last year.
Netflix shares, which have fallen roughly 67 per cent this year on concerns about future growth, rose 7 per cent to $216 in after-hours trading following the results.
In a letter to shareholders on Tuesday, Netflix attributed the slowdown to a variety of factors including password-sharing, competition and a sluggish economy.
"Our challenge and opportunity is to accelerate our revenue and membership growth by continuing to improve our product, content and marketing as we’ve done for the last 25 years, and to better monetise our big audience," the letter said.
The company has vowed to crack down on password sharing in a bid to earn more from members, with two options currently being tested in Latin America.
Netflix is also working to build on the popularity of the megahit series Stranger Things and seeking to turn some of its biggest successes into franchises.
It remains the dominant streaming service around the world with nearly 221 million global paid subscribers.
