Case Analysis Netflix

In the brick and mortar movie rental industry, Blockbuster is clearly the leader. With the merger of Hollywood Video and

The movie rental industry is a living industry; there are constant changes with advances in technology, rights management, and the slow, but steady, move away from physical Media. Companies such as Netflix, Hulu, RedBox, and Blockbuster are being forced to look at new business models and try to keep up with these changes.

Netflix was founded in 1997 with the intent to revolutionize the way in which consumers watch movies and television shows. Their accomplishments both in innovation and in customer base for their service indicate that the firm has been, and continues to be, successful in doing so. Currently, the

There are a lot of strong competitors: Blockbuster, Apple, Red box, and etc… Beside, product in this industry is not differentiated. On the other hand, the products and services are not difficult to imitate. This market is very competitive.

It appears that Netflix has control over the vast majority of the movie rental business. Consumers are renting less than they used to and the convenience that Netflix incorporates into its service, such as online streaming and mail orders eliminates other competitors from considering entering the movie rental business.

First formed in 1991, Netflix has become today’s predominant video rental service. They offer a hybrid service allowing DVD delivery by mail as well as streaming movies and TV shows via their company website or access on 200 other devices. Their unique business process has netted them over 16 million subscribers and revenue around $500 million annually. The reason for their growing success can be attributed to a good business model and just as important, properly implemented systems. An extremely efficient supply chain management system (SCM) and customer relationship management system (CRM) have helped Netflix become the world’s largest video subscription service.

4. The bargaining power of buyers: The outlook for the target market isn’t favorable for the movie industry because it will not be growing as fast as the overall population. Buyer power is a strong force because of the target market and several other factors including: the undifferentiated product offered, switching to an alternative is simple and low cost, and customers can stay home and watch movies. The consumers are also complaining about concession and ticket costs, along with the advertisements before the film is shown.

Netflix has around 75 million subscribers today which suggests that it is a very popular organisation. Netflix at the moment serves many markets across the world whinch included the US and Europe. Netflix suffers from competition from companies such as Amazon prime. Both of these companies compete to gain customers in this compact market. Netflix's corporate strategy fits in with their business level strategy as they deal mainly with DVD rental via online streaming. The deal that is in place with Warner bros has a major impact on how Netflix conducts itself. If other online streaming companies don't face this deal of not being allowed to stream their contents untill 28 days after the public release date then other companies have a competitive advantage which would lower Netflix's revenue. This would cause customers to leave Netflix as they may be able to see films at an earlier date with rival

The main problem facing Netflix is the pending conflict with its content providers. Netflix has low bargaining power both over suppliers and buyers, and this represents an existential threat to the business. Netflix has proven to be a popular service, but despite the successes of its first ten years, there is now evidence that it has not fostered much brand loyalty, and that its customers are quite price sensitive. Combine this with the fact that its content suppliers are becoming direct competitors in the online streaming business and Netflix is in significant danger of having its growth trajectory derailed.

The video rental industry began with brick and mortar store that rented VSH tape. Enhanced internet commerce and the advent of the DVD provided a opportunity for a new avenue for securing movie rentals. In 1998 Netflix headquartered in Los Gatos California began operations as a regional online movie rental company. While the firm demonstrated that a market for online rentals existed, it was not financially successfully. Netflix lost over $11 million in 1998 and as a result significantly changed the business model in 2000. The new strategy included focusing on becoming a nationally based subscription model and focusing on enhancing the subscribers experience on their website. The change in

The competitive forces in the movie rental industry are quite strong, as I will explain through the five forces model. There are a vast amount of substitutes for watching a movie. You can go to a play, sporting event, concert, out the lake/beach, go for a run, watch regular television, go shopping; I could go on and on. Also, torrenting or pirating movies is growing increasingly popular. Buyers have a strong presence in this industry mainly because they are picky about how much they will pay to rent or stream a movie. With the amount of substitutes and their pickiness, they make this

When Netflix was established in 1998, it shook the whole video rental industry by delivering the services that customers actually wanted. It was not about the movies it had in stock, because these were the same with Blockbuster or any other established video rental business. To them it was about how customers can get the best out of what they had to offer.

One the one hand, the fertility of the industry opened the doors to corporations that sighted substantial growth potential. New entrants with big pockets such as Walmart could pose a certain threat to Netflix, by exploiting a playing card based on cost reduction. On the other hand, barriers to entry became relatively significant as established video rental retailers such as Netflix have the experience and the knowhow to market movies to people. In this industry, firms that do not have a technological advantage can’t compete. The best example is Netflix’s CineMatch program that offered personalized film recommendations based on customer’s rental patterns. This way, Netflix was able to better serve its subscribers. From a cost perspective, the movie rental industry requires high capital expenditures, and the major expenses are highly related to acquisitions of DVD library and investments in technology (exhibit 2 continued). Thus, we may say that entry is difficult in this industry as the competing firms have reputation, experience and recognizable brand names.

Netflix Inc. is in the entertainment market, which is a part of a larger video, film

Netflix exhibits dominant economic characteristics in the online movie rental business. They enjoy strong market size and growth rate when compared to rivalry competition. The number of rivalries are increasing, and the market remains dominated by only a few sizeable rivalries like Blockbuster Video, Wal-Mart, Walt Disney Movies and Movielink’s Downloadable Movies. Netflix is determined to offer new and innovative technology to sustain their competitive advantage.