Netflix is the world's biggest online subscription video service. By October 2018, Netflix's customer base reached 137 million worldwide.
Netflix's initial business model included DVD sales and rental by mail, but Hastings abandoned the sales about a year after the company's founding to focus on the initial DVD rental business. In 1999 Netflix began offering an online subscription service through the Internet. Subscribers chose movie and television titles from Netflix’s Web site; the shows were then mailed to customers in the form of DVDs, along with prepaid return envelopes, from one of more than 100 distribution centers. Netflix had tens of thousands of movie titles in its catalog.
In 2007 Netflix began offering subscribers the option to stream some of its movies and television shows directly to their homes through the Internet. In 2010 Netflix introduced a streaming-only plan that offered unlimited streaming service but no DVDs. Netflix then expanded beyond the United States by offering the streaming-only plan in Canada in 2010, in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2011, and in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Scandinavia in 2012. By 2016 its streaming service was available in more than 190 countries and territories.
Netflix service plans are currently divided into three price tiers; the lowest offers standard definition streaming on a single device, the second allows high definition streaming on two devices simultaneously, and the "Platinum" tier allows simultaneous streaming on up to four devices, and 4K streaming on supported devices and Internet connections. The HD subscription plan historically cost US$7.99; in April 2014, Netflix announced that it would raise the price of this plan to $9.99 for new subscribers, but that existing customers would be grandfathered under this older price until May 2016, after which they could downgrade to the SD-only tier at the same price, or pay the higher fee for continued high definition access.
On November 30, 2016, Netflix launched an offline playback feature, allowing users of the Netflix mobile apps on Android or iOS to cache content on their devices in standard or high quality for viewing without an Internet connection. The feature is primarily available on selected series and films, and Netflix stated that more content would be supported by the feature over time. Netflix will partner with airlines to provide them with its mobile streaming technology. This will start in early 2018 as part of an effort to get airlines to provide better in-flight Wi-Fi.
As of April 2020, Netflix had over 182 million paid subscriptions worldwide, including 69 million in the United States. It is available worldwide except in the following: mainland China (due to local restrictions), Iran, Syria, North Korea, and Crimea (due to U.S. sanctions).
The company also has offices in Brazil, the Netherlands, India, Japan, and South Korea. Netflix is a member of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). Today, the company produces and distributes content from countries all over the globe.
By October 2018, Netflix's customer base reached 137 million worldwide, confirming its rank as by far the world's biggest online subscription video service.
According to britannica.com and en.wikipedia.org
