Ever since it was first introduced, Netflix has pushed aside all of their competitors and has completely dominated the market. Now, they are looking to extend their reaches by offering their services to more than 130 new countries.
This move may come as a surprise to a lot of consumers as Netflix has not made any previous announcements concerning their surprise expansion. The move was revealed by CEO Reed Hastings during his presentation at this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES).
In his keynote, he discussed which territories Netflix will expand to. "You are witnessing the birth of a global TV network," Hastings said. Netflix previously aimed to become global by the end of this year. And with them only being available in 60 countries in December 2015, it definitely looked like they had a long way to go. Now, at the beginning of 2016, they had added over 100 more territories to their scope. Netflix is now available in 21 different languages.
According to ABC News, however, Netflix is having a considerable amount of trouble breaking into the Chinese market. Hastings has said in an interview that Netflix will try to find a partner in China. At the same time, he said they will try to appease the communist government of China. He hopes to complete both of these by the end of 2016.
A report on The Verge states that Netflix has no intention of expanding into Crimea, North Korea, and Syria. This is because those countries have restrictions on American companies. Series such as "House of Cards" and "Orange is the New Black" may not be available in certain countries because Netflix may not own the distribution rights to these popular shows in these territories.
The expansion is not the only major move Netflix has planned in 2016. They plan to release "31 new and returning original series, two dozen original feature films and documentaries, a wide range of stand-up comedy specials, and 30 original kids' series."
