Netflix arrives in Germany following French debut
Austria and Switzerland are next on the streaming-video service's list as it tries to amp up its growth across Europe.
First France. Now Germany. Netflix is continuing its expansion across Europe, and there are more countries to come.
Announcing the news early Tuesday, Netflix tweeted: "Guten Morgen! Netflix ist in Deutschland. Und ganz bald auch in Österreich und der Schweiz http://www.netflix.de" (Translation: Good Morning! Netflix is in Germany. And very soon in Austria and Switzerland http://www.netflix.de). The move means German citizens will now be able to sign up for a Netflix account to stream their favorite TV shows and movies.
Netflix is staging a big push in Europe this month as it moves into France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium and Luxembourg. International markets are a major priority for the service as US subscriber growth has dwindled in part due to saturation, while overseas markets remain an untapped resource. In the second quarter, Netflix added 1.1 million subscribers outside the US versus 570,000 new streaming customers in the US.
Streaming subscriptions in Germany will start at 7.99 euros ($10.34) per month, according to news site Digital TV Europe.net. Netflix will offer German series and films as well as original series such as "Orange Is the New Black," "House of Cards" and "Hemlock Grove."
Viewers will be able to watch Netflix content on their PCs, smartphones and tablets, as well as streaming consoles and gaming consoles. In a deal with Deutsche Telekom's Entertain IPTV platform, Netflix's service will be added to Entertain set-top boxes in the weeks ahead, Digital TV Europe.net reported.
"We are proud to bring the future of television to Germany," Netflix CEO and co-founder Reed Hastings said in a statement. "German consumers now have instant access to a great selection of shows and movies, anytime and anywhere."
Shares in Netflix were down about 1.6 percent Tuesday morning at $450.26, though shares hit their highest level ever last week after an influential Wall Street analyst issued a favorable note about the stock.
Prior to this week, Netflix streaming had already been available across Europe in Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden and the Netherlands. In August, market researcher IHS forecast that Netflix's expansion into Europe in September will add 5 million to 6 million new members. The company had 13.8 million international streaming subscribers as of the middle of 2014, and currently says it has 50 million total members.