Summary of Article Contents Additional charges apply for account sharing in three countries in Latin America
Public opinion ↓ [Seoul=Newsis] Reporter Jinyoung Lee = Global online video service Netflix in three Latin American countries decided to impose an additional fee when sharing an account without living in the same house in three countries in Latin America. . There is a possibility that it will be applied to other countries, including Korea, in the near future.
According to the IT industry on the 18th, Netflix announced the new rate policy on the local time blog on the 16th and announced that it would first be tested in three Latin American countries: Chile, Peru and Costa Rica.
You can add up to two users who do not live with you, at an additional cost of $2.11 to $2.97.
As for Korea, it is unclear because it does not reveal a clear plan, but it is expected that if the rate system test is successfully established in three countries, it will be expanded to other countries.
This measure is interpreted as an intention to put a brake on OTT account sharing, which is becoming a global trend.
In most OTT systems, including Netflix, if you choose a high-grade plan, multiple people can watch on one account at the same time.
For example, Netflix is also called a 4-in-pod because if you select Premium, which is the highest rating, up to 4 people can connect at the same time. In Korea, there are also platforms that broker account sharing.
As the global OTT competition intensifies, Netflix’s investment costs increase astronomically, and as the subscriber inflow stagnated, an additional revenue model was needed, so it is analyzed that it introduced an additional account sharing plan.
As a result, domestic consumers are showing a negative reaction to Netflix.
Earlier, when Netflix raised its subscription fee by double digits in Korea at the end of last year, criticism was raised that it was a unilateral increase.
The standard, which can be used by two people, has been raised from 12,000 won to 13,500 won per month, and the premium, which can be used by four people, has been raised from 14,500 won to 17,000 won. The increase rates are 12.5% and 17.2%, respectively. However, the basic plan, which can only be used by one person, remains the same at 9,500 won per month.
It is the first time since Netflix entered the Korean market in January 2016, and it is explained that it is to invest in content production and maintain a high level of service. And there are criticisms that only the fee is raised.
Netflix is also embroiled in a network free-ride controversy. Netflix, dissatisfied with the courts first trial ruling to pay network usage fees to SK Broadband, is continuing a court battle through an appeals court.
Recently, the controversy over the leakage of national wealth has also become a topic of discussion. Kim Young-sik, a member of the Peoples Strength Council, announced on the 15th that Netflix was inflating the cost of sales in Korea, causing a serious outflow of national wealth.
According to Congressman Kims office, Netflix Service Korea remitted 77.1% of its sales of 415.5 billion won in 2020, or 320.4 billion won, to overseas group companies.
In addition, the ratio of cost of sales to sales of Netflix Service Korea increased from 70.5% in 2019 to 81.1% in 2020. On the other hand, during the same period, the proportion of cost of sales at Netflix headquarters decreased from 61.7% to 61.1%, widening the gap with the Korean subsidiary by 20 percentage points.
Rep. Kim said that if Netflixs domestic cost of sales ratio was applied at the same level as the headquarters, it was possible to prevent an outflow of about 83 billion won. ．
