After Backlash From Its Dumb Password Sharing Crackdown, Netflix Lowers Prices In 100 Countries (Just Not In The U.S.)

So we've noted more than a few times that Netflix's password sharing crackdown is a dumb cash grab. The company had already raised prices, it had already monetized the thing it was worried about (it already charges you extra if you want more simultaneous streams), and its hard 180 from encouraging password sharing to demonizing it turned off users just as streaming competition heated up.

Not too surprisingly, customers haven't responded well to being nickel-and-dimed by a company whose service quality has taken a bit of a dive, and have threatened to unsubscribe en masse. I've not yet seen evidence they actually are yet, but Netflix is clearly worried that they're about to.

The company announced late last week it would be dropping prices in over 100 countries as it tries to fend off streaming competitors:

Netflix, facing more competition globally in the streaming wars, has cut pricing in more than 100 markets worldwide - in some cases, chopping the price of monthly plans in half - to boost subscriber acquisition and retention.

Netflix first tested its dumb password sharing crackdown in many of these markets to disastrous effect. The idea wasn't implemented particularly well, leaving many customers confused. Netflix itself admits that these confused and annoyed customers are likely keen on jumping over to streaming companies that won't punish them for a practice the industry itself spent a decade actively encouraging.

Netflix's estimates on how much money this password sharing crackdown will make them don't appear based in reality. As Netflix has gotten larger and more powerful, you can see it behaving more and more like the MPA, Comcast, and other data cherry-picking industry giants, a stark contrast from its origins as a company that fought on the right side of issues like net neutrality.

That said, I still think most Netflix users will tend to stick around for now, given most consumers are lazy, and the value proposition of a service like Netflix remains better (for now) than traditional, bloated and costly cable TV bundles.

Still, the company's stark personality shift, from disruptive innovator that actually cared about healthy markets, to another nickel-and-diming cable TV provider, is notable and not going anywhere soon. There will be more dumb decisions to come as Netflix fixates exclusively on feeding Wall Street's insatiable desire for improved quarterly returns at any cost; a one-time innovator doomed to be disrupted.