Netflix fans: Prepare to pay more for subscription starting January
The streaming giant has announced higher prices for subscribers in Singapore and Malaysia.
The Netflix logo is seen on a phone in this photo illustration in Washington, DC, on Jul 10, 2019. (Photo: AFP / Alastair Pike)
Netflix will be introducing a new pricing plan in Singapore and Malaysia, starting Jan 9, 2020.
The new prices for Singapore are: S$11.98 for one screen, S$15.98 for two screens and S$19.98 for four screens. These plans are currently priced at S$10.98, S$13.98 and $16.98, respectively.
According to Leigh Wong, Netflix’s head of corporate communications, Southeast Asia, "These price changes include the government’s new indirect tax – as well as increases Netflix is introducing to reflect the significant investments we’ve made in TV and film over the last two years."
Wong told CNA Lifestyle that customers will be notified from January onwards on a rolling basis.
If you’re an existing Netflix subscriber, you’ll be guaranteed at least one month’s notice before you need to pay the new prices. For example, if your billing cycle starts on Jan 10, you’ll receive your bill and a notice that the new prices will kick in at your next billing cycle.
New members who sign up on Jan 9 will have to pay the higher prices while those who sign up before that date will pay the current prices until the next billing cycle, where they’ll receive the one-month notice.
This is the first time that Netflix has adjusted prices in Singapore since its launch in Jan 2016. The price adjustment will go towards the company continuing to make “amazing films and shows like The Irishman, Marriage Story and Six Underground," said Wong.Â
He added that the company will also invest in product experience, such as the ability to enjoy Netflix without any buffering. “We are also very proud of the fact that we actually have very good adaptive streaming technology or data compression technology,” he said.
“We continue to make improvements to our family/parental controls so we want to continue to make sure that people have the tools that they need to decide what's best for their families to watch. So we have all these things and we're continuing to build into that.”
“And we are covering this both on the content and the experience side which is why, as we continue to invest heavily into these things, we will be adjusting our prices from time to time,” Wong explained.
In Malaysia, the new prices are: RM35 (S$11.50) for one screen, RM45 for two and RM55 for four. Current prices are RM33, RM42 and RM51, respectively. The mobile price of RM17 remains unchanged.
