SINGAPORE: When Bengawan Solo raised the price of my favourite pandan cheese roll from S$1.70 (US$1.30) to S$2.70 per slice a few years ago, I declared to my family that I was boycotting the confectionery: “I don’t need these empty calories!”
When Netflix increased its premium tier pricing from S$25.98 to S$29.98 last week, I felt annoyed, then quickly consoled myself: “It’s just S$4 – less than what a bowl of noodles costs.” Never mind that Netflix content can be considered “empty calories” too. Or that the company had just raised its prices last year, in February 2024.
Over the past decade, my monthly Netflix bill has gone up 77 per cent. When the streaming service first launched here in 2016, I paid S$16.98 for the premium tier. A basic subscription ran S$10.98 in 2016 and is now S$15.98, a 46 per cent increase.
Netflix’s pricing behaviour is at odds with a world where people are cutting expenses in the face of tariffs and large-scale employment disruptions induced by artificial intelligence. Yet, the company appears confident that millions will swallow the latest price hike like I did.
Maybe they’re right. After all, a Singapore Management University study in 2024 revealed that about 38 per cent of respondents now consider streaming services to be a “basic essential so that a person can lead a normal life in Singapore”.
All the same, how much longer can Netflix keep raising prices without losing customers?
Related:
Commentary: Netflix is taking a necessary risk in tackling its 100 million freeloaders
Commentary: Netflix’s Adolescence captures the guilt fathers often carry
CONTENT IS KING
A combination of shrewd planning, massive spending, competitor missteps and lifestyle changes has made Netflix wildly successful and – more importantly – the clear winner of the streaming wars.
From October to December 2024, despite a wave of complaints about its rising prices and crackdowns on account sharing, Netflix added a record 18.9 million global subscribers. Its subscriber base numbers over 300 million today, far outstripping Amazon Prime (about 200 million), Disney (125 million), Max (117 million) and Apple TV (25 million).
Netflix keeps viewers captive by serving up a non-stop flow of varied, high-quality content. In 2025, the company plans to spend US$18 billion on content, up from US$16 billion in 2024.
In the next few months, subscribers will get to watch the final seasons of hit shows Stranger Things, Squid Game and the second season of Addams Family spinoff Wednesday. I’m not a fan of these, but I just binge-watched the new season of Black Mirror, and am eagerly awaiting the return of Love, Death And Robots.
Thanks to the massive amount of viewership data feeding its algorithms, Netflix has become a pro at pandering to a wide range of tastes. Even viewers hankering for local fare have more than just Emerald Hill to satisfy them in its growing Southeast Asian catalogue.
Netflix chief financial officer Spencer Neumann in March said that “we’re not anywhere near a ceiling” in terms of content spend. The streamer is in about 40 per cent of connected TV households but has only captured 6 per cent of the addressable market, he shared.
This explains why, starting this year, subscribers are seeing John Cena and other World Wrestling Entertainment stars appearing on Netflix in a US$5 billion deal. I haven’t watched Wrestlemania in over 30 years – but since I’ve technically already paid for it, why not?
