Wow, Netflix is actually lowering its prices in dozens of countries

Netflix is finally doing something its customers will actually enjoy: slashing costs (via TechCrunch). After a terrible year of raising prices, cracking down on password sharing, canceling shows, and losing subscribers, this is good news for Netflix fans.

Unfortunately, Netflix will lower prices in nations where it is “not deeply penetrated,” a term used by co-CEO Greg Peters during an earnings call. Essentially, this means developing markets, which means the price changes will not affect countries like the US, Canada, the United Kingdom, etc.

So far, the price drops have appeared in Egypt, Yemen, Jordan, Libya, Iran, Kenya, Croatia, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Venezuela, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, and the Philippines, among others. The drops affect about 4% of Netflix’s subscriber base or over 10 million people.

It is likely Netflix is dropping prices to try and entice more customers in these markets. Thanks to its password-sharing crackdown, the company plans to make more money off high-tier consumers in places like North America. In other words, the planned increase in revenue from affluent nations can subsidize pricing in other nations and help the company gain subscribers — which should make it more money in the long term.

Now that it has an ad-supported tier, you should not expect Netflix to lower prices in the US or other large markets anytime soon. Unless, of course, customers start canceling Netflix in droves. Who knows what could happen then.