Instant streaming of movies is continuing to become a larger part of Netflix's (NASDAQ: NFLX) business, as some 55 percent of the company's 14 million subscribers streamed at least part of a movie in the first quarter, the company said in its earnings call. The company also said it had added 1.7 million subscribers in the quarter and forecasts it could add up to 1 million more subs by the end of the second quarter. During the past 18 months, Netflix has seen its subscriber ranks swell by more than 5 million.
Rising postal rates have been one factor in steering the DVD-by-mail giant toward the Internet for delivering movies. It has aggressively lined up the three major gaming platforms--Sony's PS3, Nintendo's Wii, and Microsoft's Xbox--as partners, and continues to bring on other partners like Boxee and Roku. Netflix users who subscribe to the service's basic tier--$8.99 per month--are given access to unlimited streaming of titles in its expanding library.
Financially, Netflix said it earned $32.3 million in the first quarter, or 59 cents per share, up from $2.4 million, or 37 cents per share a year ago.
Nextflix said first quarter performance was strong enough to prompt the company to forecast earning of $144 million for the year; it earlier had said it expected to earn some $137 million for 2010.
For more:
- see this AP article
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