Netflix apologetic for price hike

Reed Hastings of Netflix has apologised for the company’s recent handling of a price increase to the streaming services. The new price hike ended the hugely successful US$10 monthly “all you can eat” subscription of DVD and media streaming, replacing it with a separate price for each. Customers can now select from US$7.99 for DVD or streaming, or pay US$15.98 for both products.

Netflix relied on a low-level managed to announce this on its blog and the public feedback was brutal to say the least.

Hastings has now admitted to “messing up” in regards to the announcement of the company split. Its launch of the Qwikster product (the separate DVD mail service) was done “without doing much CEO communication”.

The launch of two separate services means that Netflix can now focus on offering a full suite of DVD content such as gaming titles and Blu-Ray films. Hastings explains this further.

Many members love our DVD service, as I do, because nearly every movie ever made is published on DVD, plus lots of TV series. We want to advertise the breadth of our incredible DVD offering so that as many people as possible know it still exists, and it is a great option for those who want the huge and comprehensive selection on DVD. DVD by mail may not last forever, but we want it to last as long as possible.

These are now two very different businesses according to Hastings, with various operating requirements. Despite a new branding of the DVD-to-mail service, Qwikster will be the exact same service which people have been used to all of these years. The same red envelope, but now with the Qwikster logo attached to it.

Hastings full apology video has been embedded below.