Netflix on Monday said it added about 5 million new subscribers over the past three months as profits doubled, in a quarterly update that sent shares of the streaming video giant higher.
California-based Netflix ended the third quarter of the year with more than 104 million paid subscribers, with international memberships hitting 52.7 million and overtaking the number of US subscribers.
Net profits meanwhile jumped to US$129 million, more than double the figure from the same period a year ago for the video giant known for House of Cards, The Crown and other original shows that are part of its library.
Revenues in the quarter rose 30 percent from a year ago to US$2.98 billion, Netflix said.
“We are growing nicely across the world and are on track to exceed [US]$11 billion in revenue in 2017,” a letter to shareholders said.
“Internet entertainment is delighting consumers and we are staying at the forefront of this once-in-a-generation opportunity,” it added.
Netflix has been aggressively expanding around the world and is now present in about 190 markets, making it the leading service for streaming or on-demand television.
Shares in the company jumped 1.7 percent in after-hours trade on the stronger-than-expected results.
Earlier this month, Netflix said it was increasing prices for customers in the US and parts of Europe to help fuel investments in original shows and boost expansion.
“We spend disproportionately in the US to generate media and influencer awareness for our programing which we believe, in turn, is an effective way to facilitate word of mouth globally,” a Netflix letter said.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last