Netflix has topped 50 million streaming subscribers for the first time (original) (raw)

Netflix surpassed 50 million subscribers to its streaming video service as the company kept up its torrid growth last quarter.

At the end of June, Netflix had 36.2 million streaming subscribers in the US (up 16% from the previous quarter) and 13.8 million in the rest of the world (up 9%). Including the DVD business, Netflix reported a total of 56.3 million subscribers worldwide.

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The subscriber growth continued despite a recent price increase—$1 a month in the US and similar amounts elsewhere—and stiff competition from the World Cup on traditional television. In fact, Netflix suggested that purchases of new TV sets to watch soccer had given the company a tangential boost. “The percentage of viewing from smart TVs in Latin America is higher than any other region we serve,” Netflix wrote in a letter to shareholders (pdf).

The new subscribers helped contribute to a profit of $71 million in the second quarter, up 145% from a year prior and beating most analysts’ expectations.