Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) continued to sign up Canadian subscribers in the final months of 2019 even as competition from other streaming services heated up.
Netflix says it recruited more Canadian subscribers in the final months of last year as it responded to an onslaught of new competition from Apple TV Plus and Disney Plus with an array of buzzworthy TV series such as "The Crown" and Oscar-nominated movies such as "The Irishman."
The global streaming company says it signed up 125,000 new paid subscribers in Canada during the fourth quarter that ended on December 31, 2019. Yet, while the results were an improvement over the 96,000 Canadian subscribers who joined Netflix in the third quarter, the company's subscriber growth was down from the 218,000 new members who joined during the last three months of 2018.
Part of that slowdown could be attributed to the arrival of both Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Disney (NYSE:DIS) which launched their hyped streaming services within days of each other. Disney Plus, in particular, left a solid impact on pop culture when its Star Wars spinoff “The Mandalorian” sparked an obsession with viewers over the so-called Baby Yoda character on social media.
Netflix says despite the widespread attention both new streaming platforms attracted, there was a "more muted impact from competitive launches" outside the U.S., including in Canada.
