The Death of Netflix: Is Netflix Really Dying?

Recently, in 2022, Netflix revealed its earnings for the first time in 10 years, leading to a massive decline of over 60% in the company’s stock prices.

With the introduction of many new streaming services, the former DVD rental service is quickly being overtaken by its new competition. Over the course of 2022, Netflix stock dropped 40% between January and April 19. The war in Ukraine and blunders such as the announcement of increased prices, as well as the loss of many IPs to competitors, led to a further drop of 35% after that. With the rise of other streaming services like HBO Max, Paramount Plus, Disney+, and Hulu, the only thin Netflix could do to stay afloat was use Netflix Original movies and series. But Netflix is losing even this advantage as there are many series that aren’t an immediate major hit, like The Society, The OA, and I Am Not Okay with This.

One of the biggest reasons for the drop in Netflix’s subscriptions is because of the massive loss of IP’s the platform’s gone through. Netflix doesn’t have many large IPs to rely on like most other streaming platforms. While Disney+ has Star Wars and Marvel, and Paramount Plus has Transformers, SpongeBob, and Indiana Jones to hold their audiences, Netflix can only pump out original series over and over hoping to score a hit. With the loss of shows like The Office, Daredevil, and Jessica Jones, Netflix is starting to show its wear.

While Netflix seems to be done for, many people still think all the trouble it’s currently going through is just a bump in the road. The biggest reason is because Netflix still made a net profit of over $31.47 billion in 2022 alone. Along with this, the company’s profits have been very slowly increasing the whole time, with the operating margins staying around 20% for the past few years and management expecting it to continue growing. Most importantly is the hope that the new advertisements tier, being made after partnering with Microsoft, will help revive the company, as being able to sell ad space will bring in a large amount of business and profit.

With all the issues Netflix is facing right now, only time will tell if the new advertisement plan will save them or if it will fall to its competitors within the next few years.