Australian Netflix subscription prices are about to rise again, this time by 14% because…. inflation?

Netflix once had the streaming market cornered and piracy was on the way down, because they offered an easy, relatively cheap way to watch shows we wanted. Slowly but surely though there have been other players entering the streaming service market so now Netflix are not the only fish in the sea.

You would think they would decrease costs or improve service to customers to keep their customers and entice more to join but if you did think that you’d be wrong. Instead, Netflix are once again increasing costs, this time by up to 14 percent. For reference, the CPI rise for the 12 months to the March 2024 quarter was just 3.6 percent.

The cost of the premium subscription from Netflix (the only one that has 4K streaming — and most TVs these days have 4K) has risen $3 a month from $22.99 to $25.99 — that is a lot of money for folks to afford when the costs of everything else has risen so much due to “inflation.” A standard 30 days before they have to pay the new prices subscription (1080p only) has also risen, by $2, now up to $18.99 per month and the standard subscription with ads will now set you back $7.99, $1 more than previously.

Many users are yet to be informed of these price rises (I know I haven’t received notice yet) but Netflix has told 9news.com.au that “everyone will be notified by email 30 days before they have to pay the new prices.”

“We offer a range of prices and plans to meet a wide range of needs, and as we deliver more value to our members, we occasionally ask them to pay a bit more,”

a Netflix spokesperson

It should be noted here that Netflix are not struggling like so many of us. Their net income jumped 79 percent to $2.3bn (yes, that is billion) over the first three months of 2024 with revenue rising 15 percent to $9.4bn and have forecast their sales growth of “up to 15% this year” with an operating margin of 25 percent.

It should not surprise many of you that many subscribers are expected to cancel their subscriptions to Netflix after this latest price hike, afterall there are so many cheaper alternatives along with the free to air streaming options which do have great catalogues themselves. It may even lead to people accessing content by more nefarious means, something that went mostly by the wayside when Netflix came along.

While it remains to be seen how Netflix’s subscribers react to the latest price increase, for many of us who spend a long time scrolling through all the Netflix catalogue in an attempt to try and find something interesting to watch it may well be the last straw.

Netflix should be careful with their amibvalence to the service they prived to their customers and what they charge them for it because if they don’t they may well become the next Blockbuster Video.