Netflix Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Netflix - Essay Example Netflix definitely has the first-mover advantage in the online video streaming industry. Over the years, other companies have jumped into the fray to cash in on the lucrative market. The major competitors of Netflix include Amazon Prime Instant Video, HBO GO and Hulu. Amazon competes with Netflix by shipping millions of items and rented ebooks. Anyone can stream a TV show or video on the company’s website. HBO Gos Nordic service, an over-the-top (OTT) video-on-demand (VOD), is a potent challenger to Netflix. HBO has also announced its plans to launch its Internet TV service next year (Seitz, 2014). Meanwhile, the Vudu-Walmart alliance enables subscribers to stream on Walmart.com (Cablefax Daily, 2011). Netflix has always maintained leadership position in the online video streaming industry. It is not difficult to fathom why Netflix has been so popular. The online video streaming company provides a compelling value proposition to its customers. Netflix members pay a low monthly price and in return get unlimited hours of access to TV shows and movies. The members can enjoy this access anytime, anywhere, on nearly any Internet-connected screen. The icing on the cake is that the content is commercial free. Moreover, subscribers can pause and resume viewing the content at will (Netflix.com, 2014). In 2000, the company launched the personalized movie recommendation system whereby member ratings were used to accurately gauge the movie choices for all the Netflix subscribers. The streaming service was introduced in 2007. A year later, Netflix inked pacts with numerous companies so that its subscribers could steam on Xbox 360, Blu-ray disc players and TV set-top boxes. The initial success prompted Netflix to pursue more tie-ups and stream on the PS3, Apple iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch, and the Nintendo Wii (Pr.netflix.com, 2014). Recently, Netflix introduced a feature whereby subscribers could automatically share what they saw on