Netflix slashes prices of streaming services in India

Netflix has reduced the prices of its streaming services in India, for the first time since launching five years ago, amid competition from Disney and Amazon.
Netflix on television
The US-based streaming giant cut prices by 60 percent, to 199 rupees ($2.62) a month, for its basic plan that lets users watch content on a single device.

The price of its mobile-only plan will drop a quarter to 149 rupees, with overall prices of various plans falling 18 percent to 60 percent.

Netflix priced its products far above competitors in India such as Disney and Amazon, citing the much higher income of households that spoke English and watched entertainment in the language.

Amazon Prime Video charges 179 rupees ($2.36) per month. Amazon allows users to simultaneously watch content on multiple devices from the same account, and offers a cheaper annual payment plan, Reuters reported.

Disney + Hotstar offers an annual premium plan with access to all its content in 4K at 1,499 rupees ($19.76).

Disney + Hotstar made up a little less than 40 percent of the total subscriber base of 116 million of Disney+, the company said in an earnings call this year. Netflix and Amazon do not reveal their figures by country.

In 2018, Netflix said India could deliver its next 100 million subscribers.