SAO PAULO - Netflix started his film and TV streaming service in Brazil on Monday, the bridgehead for a push in Latin America, which is key to the continued growth of the company after recent setbacks in the United States.
Netflix Inc. said that it is planning in 43 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean soon, the online movie rental company largest international expansion can extend.
"What is looking for Netflix, to do, combine to offer the World World World content", CEO Reed Hastings said as he opened the service in Brazil on Monday.
Netflix service in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay will be on Wednesday and then expands to Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean within a week.
Movement brings challenges not seen in Netflix core markets, the United States and Canada.
Broadband reaches a far smaller percentage of the houses in Latin America as in the United States, and speeds are slower. Piracy of films is the most widespread on the planet, which means that many consumers can pick up a DVD or CD of the latest movies for less than a dollar. Also, Netflix has little brand recognition in the region and it is already a local competitor for Brazil.
"This will work only in Ecuador, Costa Rica or even Mexico, as it has in the United States,", said analyst Michael Pachter of Webbush securities. "It will depend on how many households to broadband access have and how the quality of the content will be."
Only 20 percent of Brazilian 42 million Internet users a connection speed of 500 kilobytes per second, according to a may report by Ibope Nielsen Online. A speed of about 800 kilobytes per second is the minimum required movies to stream online.
Netflix subscribers across the region will be able, TV shows and movies, which streamed on a variety of gadgets. Domestic and foreign content in Brazil, with some titles in Portuguese, Spanish or English, synchronized offered are, and people will also be able, for subtitling.
The service in Brazil cost 14,99 Reals per month (approx. $9), and new subscribers will receive the first month free.
In the United States a streaming subscription costs $8 per month, and customers more to pay to get DVDs by mail. As in Canada are the Netflix service in Latin America streaming-only, without the DVD option. Netflix streaming library in the United States is about one-fifth the size of the 100,000 selection in the DVD section.
Hastings rejected to say would be how many film and TV titles for the Latin American consumers. He also would not say how much has invested in the company the company.
Headquartered in Los Gatos, California, working on the expansion of its international nature, such as the service, which it launched in 2007 in the United States more ubiquitous is and how it is new pressure. March Netflix had 22.8 million subscribers in the United States, about 34,000 more than the number of households that subscribe to Comcast Corp. cable TV service.
The company tried to calm down, the Internet video with DVD subscribers about a price increase of less than 60 percent on plans outraged-to bundle distribution.
It is also scrambling to a potentially large gap in the video library, created in March, when it the rights to stream movies and TV shows by Starz Entertainment, part of liberty Media Corp. loses
Netflix had tried, Starz offer to renew, the recently-released movies from various Studios Walt Disney Co., to the talks last week to reduce, if Starz announced that it, published a contract with the Netflix streaming recently under the annual 30-million dollar deal to renew movies and TV shows online not, included.
These developments have fears, could lose Netflix subscribers in the United States, and that has the share price of around 25 percent of the company, increases, wipe from about $4 billion in shareholder wealth, since the price increases were in July.
Anti-piracy advocates hope that Netflix is a entry in Latin America market-based instrument for the rampant infringement of intellectual property rights in the region, that can provide by many watchdog groups as the worst in the world in place.
Kelsey Zahourek, Director of Washington-based monitor function property rights Alliance, hopes that Netflix can change consumer habits in Latin America.
"When you give consumers a relatively low-cost choice to all movies that they want for a relatively low prices, it goes to lower piracy rates," she said. "Increasing enforcement along with consumer habits change a long way in reducing piracy can go."
Hastings said that the use of peer-to-peer sharing networks to pirated movies in Canada spread has fallen since Netflix is, that entered the market, but he was doubtful, the service, that alone was the answer.
"We're going to eliminate not piracy with Netflix, but you can make a dent," he said.
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Associated press writer Michael Liedtke in San Francisco contributed to this report.
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