Netflix Loses 800,000 Subscribers

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings has apologized, explained, and apologized again for his companies plan to divide mail-in movie rentals and online streaming into two separate services, but that hasn’t stopped many people from jumping ship. Netflix has lost more than 800,000 subscribers since the Qwikster debacle.

Hastings wrote in a letter to shareholders:

“The last few months…have been difficult for shareholders, employees, and most unfortunately, many members of Netflix. We’ve hurt our hard-earned reputation, and stalled our domestic growth.”

Netflix has abandoned its Qwikster plan and has promised customers that “we are done with pricing changes,” but Hastings thinks that the great Netflix exodus isn’t over yet.

CNN reports that Netflix has 23.8 million subscribers in the US. That number is down from 24.6 million subscribers which the company had three months earlier. The majority of Netflix customers use the online streaming service (21.5 million subscribers). Netflix currently has about 14 million people signed up to receive DVDs by mail.

The company is expecting those numbers to dwindle ever further by the end of the year. Netflix estimates that it will have have 20 million to 21.5 million streaming customers and about 11.3 million DVD subscribers at the end of the year.

Netflix said on Monday:

“We compounded the problem with our lack of explanation about the rising cost of the expansion of streaming content … [so] many perceived us as greedy. Our primary issue is many of our long-term members felt shocked by the pricing changes, and more of them have expressed that by canceling Netflix than we expected.”

Do you still have a Netflix account? Where do you rent movies?