Streaming giant Netflix has added 15.77 million subscribers in the first quarter, as more people around the world turn to the platform to keep entertained during lockdowns.
The additions beat the company’s earlier forecast of 7 million new subscribers for the quarter, bringing its total paid subscriber base to 182.86 million.
Despite the surge in users, revenue was still in-line with its guidance due to the rise in US dollar compared to other currencies. The company reported US$5.77 billion in revenue, up 27.6% year-on-year.
Netflix outlined three ways it has been impacted by the pandemic.
“First, our membership growth has temporarily accelerated due to home confinement,” its letter to shareholders says.
“Second, our international revenue will be less than previously forecast due to the dollar rising sharply.
“Third, due to the production shutdown, some cash spending on content will be delayed, improving our free cash flow, and some title releases will be delayed, typically by a quarter.”
Netflix considers its latest results as a spike caused by the pandemic, and expects things to return to normal for the next quarter, with a forecasted 7.5 million new subscribers for Q2.
“We expect viewing to decline and membership growth to decelerate as home confinement ends, which we hope is soon,” the company says.
The biggest spike in users came from the Europe, Middle East and Africa region, with 6.96 million new subscribers, followed by the Asia-Pacific region, with 3.6 million new subscribers.
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