On Monday Netflix announced that it was launching a new, free subscription tier for users in Kenya.
The free tier will feature limited content but Netflix says that profiles won’t look any different. Users who subscribe using the free tier will still get personalised recommendations, parental controls and up to five different profiles.
The free tier is seemingly only available for Android smartphones which makes sense given how many affordable smartphones that use Android there are on the market.
“If you’ve never watched Netflix before — and many people in Kenya haven’t — this is a great way to experience our service. And if you like what you see, it’s easy to upgrade to one of our paid plans so you can enjoy our full catalog on your TV or laptop as well,” Netflix’s director of product innovation, Cathy Conk, explained in a press release.
The content available on the free tier includes Blood & Water, Money Heist and Bridgerton among other licensed content.
Of course Netflix hopes that users will ultimately upgrade to a paid subscription.
Will we see this free tier offered up in other parts of the world? We aren’t sure at the moment but it does make for an enticing prospect if Netflix’s play is to bring more folks to the service. Yes, Netflix doesn’t earn anything and according to Gadgets 360, it won’t even report free subscribers as part of its global subscriber count. However, it might prove easier to upsell a free subscriber to a premium plan when they have an idea of what they are getting.
Will this play work? That’s unclear but Netflix has to do something if it wants to maintain its title as the biggest streaming platform on Earth, especially with growth slowing in countries where Netflix is well established.
