(Toronto) Another year, another price increase for Netflix.
Posted at 4:55 p.m.
At least that’s what Canadians might be telling themselves since the global streaming platform announced last week that it was once again raising the price of its most popular subscription plans by $1 or $2 per month.
Netflix clarified on Friday that the price of its standard plan, which includes high-definition video and two simultaneous viewings, would increase by $1.50 to $16.49 per month, while the premium plan, with Ultra HD access and four simultaneous viewings. simultaneous, would increase by $2 to $20.99.
The basic plan with lower definition video remains unchanged at $9.99.
While Netflix isn’t the only video-on-demand giant to raise prices, it has done so more frequently, leading London, Ont.-based analyst Carmi Levy to wonder if the company isn’t isn’t trying to figure out how much she can drive up the bill.
Mr Levy expects Netflix to continue raising its price “bit by bit” to see “consumer resistance to price increases”.
Netflix last increased its Canadian prices in October 2020, bumping up the standard plan by $1 and the premium plan by $2. However, subscribers also felt an additional pinch last year when the company started on 1er July, to add GST or HST charges to their invoices.
Other streaming companies have also increased their prices since the pandemic began.
Disney+ added $3 a month to its subscribers’ bills last year when it introduced a selection of adult programming through a section of the service called Star.
Mr. Levy suggests that whichever platform raises its price, the move itself is sure to make even long-time subscribers think about their bills.
“Consumers will look at their video-on-demand service budgets and wonder why they’ve committed to more than one service on an ongoing basis, and they’ll start to opt out,” he said.
“I think we are starting to get there. »