Monday, October 10, 2011 11:49 am EDT
n "> (Reuters)-Netflix Inc. Chief Executive Reed Hastings reversed an unpopular decision to separate the rental of DVD and online video streaming service, sending the stock 7 percent in the first exchanges of his company.
U.s. customers will continue to go to Netflix.com for streaming and DVD rentals by mail, as the company dropped plans to move its DVD rentals into a separate business called Qwikster, Hastings announced in a brief statement on the company blog on Monday.
Hastings previous plan to put DVD rentals of movies and television on a different Web site, which never entered into force, was one of several missteps in recent months that helped disk quotas of one-time darling of Wall Street down about 60 percent since July.
Writing on the company blog last month, Hastings said Netflix was put at the service of DVD on a different Web site and calling it Qwikster as a separate company from its growing business offers online streaming. The move would have forced customers to stream DVD options and to visit different web sites and manage different accounts for each subscription. Customers also would receive separate charges of credit card.
The announcement prompted confusion and anger from customers who fumed on the Netflix blog and Facebook page, more concern over the move to the name of Qwikster for DVD sent through the mail in envelopes red signature of the company.
"I have voted and Netflix Subscribers made the whole thing was silly," said Charlie Wolf analyst Needham & co. "It was a place where you don't raise prices, but you've lost subscribers."
In a statement released on Monday, Hastings said "there is a difference between moving quickly-that Netflix has done very well for years--and move too fast, that is what we did in this case."
"Consumers value the simplicity that Netflix has always offered and that we respect," said Hastings.
Netflix said that renames the DVD service. U.S. members "will continue to use a Web site, an account and a password for their film and TV watching enjoyment under the brand name Netflix," said the statement of the company.
The move comes as a reaction of the Netflix customer that began in July when the company announced it was raising prices by as much as 60 percent, or $ 6 per month, for a few customers who wanted to keep the DVD and streaming subscriptions.
With rotating cancellations, Netflix in September cut third quarter forecast from 1 million subscribers. The company said it expected to have 24 million subscribers at the end of the quarter.
Hastings later apologized for the management of rising but is sticking with that decision, as the company works to build its online movie and TV streaming service.
But Hastings stopped short of an apology to customers on the confusion caused before reversing course on Monday.
In a terse statement 140-Word blog Hastings said: "it is clear that for many of our members two websites would make things more difficult." He added, "While the price change for July was required, we are now done with the price changes."
Netflix faces pressure from Hollywood studios and cable programmers to pay more for streaming content. Negotiations with Liberty Starz Media have recently been called off because the two sides could not reach an agreement on pricing terms. The company also faces competition from Amazon.com, Hulu and others.
(Reporting by Yinka Adegoke, New York)
(Reporting by Lisa Richwine, editing by Dave Zimmerman)
没有评论:
发表评论