A Netflix price hike could hit existing customers soon, according to recent news shared by 9To5Mac.
Initially, only those who recently signed up will be affected by the price increase. That price hike is already taking effect after being first announced in January for users in the United States and Canada. But since then, Netflix has announced that they'd "gradually" increase the prices of their streaming plans across the board for everyone else.
Existing subscribers have been receiving emails from the streaming giant informing them that the cost of their plans have changed, and is due to take effect starting April 17th.
Here is the reported text of the email:
"The cost of your plan has changed. This change takes effect Sunday, April 17th, 2022. You can view your updated membership details by visiting your account. We hope you're enjoying Netflix and we're always adding new TV shows and movies for our members to enjoy."
If you're wondering just how much more you'll need to pay, it depends on which plan you have. Standard plan subscribers would now need to pay $15.49 instead of the previous $13.99. Basic plan subscribers will need to pay $9.99 (up from $8.99), and Premium plan owners will now pay $19.99 (up from $17.99).
What's The Reason For This Netflix Price Hike?
As previously mentioned, the latest Netflix price hike was first announced back in January for users in the US and Canada. The main reason for the price increase was more or less generic corporate wording: "to offer a wide variety of quality entertainment options." This is basically corpo speak for "we need more money to get more licenses to get the shows you love to watch."
But this initial announcement, however, didn't say at first whether the increase in Netflix prices would affect everybody else in the world, via USA Today. Now, it is more or less definitive.
Netflix Price Hike History
This most recent increase in Netflix prices might be jarring to some, but the media streaming giant has been doing this ever since 2015-2016.
According to data shared by The Verge, the first major bump in Netflix prices started for Standard plan subscribers close to the tail-end of 2015. Back then, it went up to $10 and kept rising over the years to $11, $13, $14, and now $15.49 in 2022.
Premium and Basic plan subscribers had it just a bit easier for slightly longer. Basic plan users, for instance, didn't see an increase until 2019 when the price was bumped up to $9 a month. It stayed there until this year when the Basic plan now costs $10 as part of the global change.
As for Premium users, they saw perhaps the biggest price jump over seven years compared to the other two plans. The first price bump occurred by late 2017 when it rose from $12 to $14. It rose higher once more to $16 by 2019, then to $18 by late 2020, and now to $20 by 2022.
This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by RJ Pierce
