Netflix confirmed in a shareholder letter late final week that its transfer to not permit customers to share passwords at no cost might start by the tip of March.
In October, Netflix introduced plans to alter its coverage on password sharing and stated it will ultimately begin charging folks to share accounts, however on the time it didn't give a selected date for when the brand new coverage would start.
Even now, the corporate has not specified a date however did say within the letter that it will start rolling out paid sharing extra broadly "later in Q1 [quarter one]."
"Whereas our phrases of use restrict use of Netflix to a family, we acknowledge it is a change for members who share their account extra broadly. So we have labored arduous to construct extra new options that enhance the Netflix expertise, together with the power for members to evaluate which gadgets are utilizing their account and to switch a profile to a brand new account," the corporate stated.
Within the letter, it detailed that account sharing, which it stated is finished in additional than 100 million households, "undermines" its potential to speculate and enhance.
The corporate, which described 2022 as a "robust" yr, suffered its first subscriber loss in additional than a decade when its buyer base fell by 200,000 subscribers within the first quarter of final yr.
Regardless of these losses early final yr, Netflix shared it ended on a "brighter end," praising its fourth-quarter income, working revenue, and membership development because it exceeded forecasts with content material like Harry and Meghan that "outperformed" its expectations.
The corporate famous within the letter, nonetheless, that the deliberate crackdown on account sharing will seemingly lead "close to time period engagement, as measured by third events like Nielsen's The Gauge" being "negatively impacted."
In efforts to extend development, the corporate additionally launched a lower-priced ad-supported plan in November, stating that the transfer has pushed "incremental membership development."
"We consider we have now a transparent path to reaccelerate our income development: persevering with to enhance all features of Netflix, launching paid sharing and constructing our advertisements providing," Netflix stated.