Netflix Is Aggressively Testing the Indian Market With Affordable Offering

• Netflix has presented a new mobile plan for the Indian market, but this one offers HD streaming quality.
• The streaming giant is looking to establish a strong foothold in India, but there’s still a long way to cover.
• Netflix has also launched on the Google Nest Hub, so it’s entering people’s kitchens now.

Netflix is looking to capture large portions of the huge Indian market, testing a new plan that offers HD streaming for Rs. 349/month, which is about $4.5. The popular streaming platform is already offering an even cheaper plan that limits the user to enjoying content in Standard Definition only and on a single mobile device at a time.

The new plan is adding the option of a computer (on top of smartphones and tablets) and is taking the streaming quality to the lot more enjoyable HD level.

Source: XDA

The fact that TV is not included in the plan is somewhat understandable from a business perspective, although, from a technical standpoint, it doesn’t make much sense. People can stream Netflix content from their smartphones and then push the content to the TV through casting. For Netflix, this new plan is a step above the basic “mobile” plan, so the company sees this as an optimal choice for those who want to view content on their big and high-res smartphone or tablet screens.

This is what they stated about the new plan:

“We launched the Mobile Plan in India to make it easier for anyone with a smartphone to enjoy Netflix. We want to see if members like the added choice this offer brings. We’ll only roll it out long-term if they do.”

The streaming market in India is growing steadily, and Netflix is a big force that drives that growth, but it’s not the only one. Disney+, Hotstar, ZEE5, and Amazon Prime are all offering affordable plans, and all strive to grow at rates that will help them establish a market position that won’t be easily shaken in the upcoming years.

It is estimated that over 50 streaming brands are fighting for a foothold in India, and the total investment that will go into producing original content until 2024 is around $1.4 billion.

On parallel news, Netflix has landed on the Google Nest Hub, so people can now enjoy their favorite movies, TV shows, and documentaries right in the kitchen, and while eating or cooking. The Google Assistant will be available to help you pick up what to play next without having to press or navigate anything. That would be especially helpful for when you’re doing the dishes, for example.

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