Video streaming giant Netflix had a total net income of nearly 5.4 billion U.S. dollars in 2023, whilst the company's annual revenue reached around 33.7 billion U.S. dollars. The number of Netflix's streaming subscribers worldwide has continued to grow in recent years, reaching 260 million in the fourth quarter of 2023. Five years earlier, at the end of 2018, the figure stood at 139 million subscribers.
The growth of Netflix
Netflix was launched in the United States in 1998, functioning as a digital DVD rental store and placing itself squarely in competition with Blockbuster. The company launched its streaming video service in 2007, and just over a decade later Netflix secured the title of the streaming service with the most subscribers in the world.
Investing in own content
Netflix now offers a wealth of original content as well as content from niche and emerging directors, multiple foreign-language movies and a significant amount of highly-acclaimed and popular films from Hollywood and other markets. Netflix’s worldwide video content budget surpassed 17 billion U.S. dollars in 2023, marking a nearly three-fold increase since 2016. The streaming platform has become known for its many original shows reaching fans across the globe, including "Stranger Things," "Orange is the New Black," and "13 Reasons Why."
