Netflix will end password sharing starting April 2023

There have been persistent rumors about Netflix planning to eliminate password sharing altogether, fueled by a recent crackdown on sharers. But so far the streaming service has been hesitant to take the move on a wider scale, for fear of loosing customers. This will change in 2023. Forced out by the loss of subscribers, Netflix has now said it will stop sharing passwords in 2023. Anyone who wants to access Netflix will be asked to pay for it. 

This means Netflix users will no longer be able to share their account passwords with anyone outside the household (for free). In a letter sent to shareholders, the OTT giant has announced that it will launch the paid sharing feature in the first quarter of 2023 - starting April 2023.  Extra charges will be applicable to users who want to share their account passwords with friends or family. 

The company says that over 100 million Netflix viewers use the streaming platform through passwords borrowed from friends and family. 

In 2022, Netflix announced in its Q1 2022 earning report that it lost 200,000 subscribers due to fierce competition and the war in Ukraine. The company had suspended services in Russia resulting in the loss of 700,000 subscribers. The second quarter was even worse, with losing nearly 1 million subscribers, the biggest loss in company's history. Following the report, Netflix’s stock tumbled 26%, loosing about $40 billion of stock market value. 

The third quarter of brought relief to the company, though, with the company reporting the addition of 2.41 million global subscribers. However, Netflix CEO Spencer Neumann, said during the company’s earnings call that they’re “still not growing as fast as they’d like,” which brings us to the decision to kill password sharing. 

It remains to be seen the effect of this new policy and how people react to it. Will this benefit Netflix or encourages more cancellations.