With the arrival of the new year, many are looking forward to what 2023 will bring; however, Netflix users already have the first bad news for next year, which is that, as already announced, the company will start charging for account sharing.
It is a reality that, to watch Netflix series and movies, you do not need to pay a subscription, shared passwords are a widespread practice on this platform, and while this is a positive aspect for users as far as the company is concerned, it is a severe problem.
This 2022 has not been an easy year for the company; the economic situation has meant that Netflix did not grow as expected. With the rise of other streaming platforms, such as HBO or Amazon Prime, users have found other entertainment options, causing a drop in subscribers.
To do this, the company has begun introducing ways to combat it, such as the controversial ad-supported version that has recently arrived in our homes. That offers almost all the content the regular subscription has but shows ads for every hour of playback.
This is not Netflix’s only effort to stay viable for next year since, as we anticipated a couple of months ago, the company wants to end shared passwords. According to The Wall Street Journal, more than 100 million people use Netflix without paying for it, using a friend’s or family member’s access code.
The company is aware that this measure will not sit well with users but is confident that this system is the right one after its supposedly successful tests were carried out in Chile, Peru, and Costa Rica.
At the beginning of 2023, Netflix will begin to implement this new measure, although initially, it will only do so in the United States. Still, it is more than certain that it will transfer to other countries sooner rather than later.
A fee has not been set yet, but it is speculated that each user who shares a password will have to pay an extra $3. Experts estimate that this amount could inject around $721 million into Netflix from users in the United States and Canada alone.
