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Streaming market leader Netflix gained significantly fewer users than expected at the beginning of the year.
In the first quarter, the number of subscribers increased by four million to almost 208 million, Netflix announced on Tuesday after the US market closed.
The online video service clearly missed both its own target of around six million new customers and the expectations of Wall Street analysts.
The share price slumped after the hours of trading by more than ten percent.
Netflix increased revenues and profits in the three months to the end of March.
The bottom line was that the company earned $ 1.7 billion, around 140 percent more than a year ago.
Sales grew 24 percent to $ 7.2 billion.
Last year, the boom at the beginning of the corona crisis brought Netflix record results.
Now the rush of customers is falling sharply.
Due to production problems caused by the pandemic, there has recently been a lack of new film and series hits.
Netflix warned in a letter to shareholders that a flood of new content was only to be expected in the second half of the year.
In addition, Netflix is struggling with growing competition from Disney +, for example, which already reached the 100 million mark in March.
Although Netflix still has more than twice as many users, Disney is catching up rapidly and is so far represented in significantly fewer countries.
Netflix is well aware of the intensified competition and goes into it in detail in the quarterly report.
It is said, for example, that the comparison of subscriber numbers - due to discounts and other promotions - does not tell the whole story - a barely concealed swipe, as Disney relies heavily on special offers.
Netflix, on the other hand, recently raised prices in the US home market and other regions and examined a stricter approach to the sharing of passwords for multiple use of accounts.
That shouldn't favor the growth of customers.
In the current quarter, Netflix expects only 3.2 million new users.
fdi / dpa