Netflix today unveiled a new subscription tier in Malaysia that's aimed at mobile devices only, but also comes in at less than half the price of its standard subscription.
For RM17 (approximately $4) per month, Malaysians can now have access to Netflix's library of movies and series. The catch here is, of course, that the content can only be used on a single handheld device, such as a phone or a tablet. That would mean that devices like Apple's new iPad Pro should qualify.
Unfortunately, the more damning restriction might be that content accessed using the mobile plan will only be available in standard definition, and not high definition. For mobile phones, that may not be a big deal breaker but if you were planning on hooking up your phone to an external monitor and getting your Netflix fix on the cheap, you may not be satisfied with the image quality on offer.
This seems to be what all the rumours regarding a cheaper subscription for India may have been about. Netflix confirmed in a statement to TechCrunch that the company is running similar trials in other places, though it refused to name any countries except for Malaysia.
The company has been making more of an effort to court Asian users in recent years, with India, in particular, being Netflix's major focus in the region. It's been adding more local content aimed the Indian market over the last two years and has even revealed plans for a slew of new Netflix Originals made for India. The experimentation with pricing is just the latest in a series of moves aimed at winning over that crucial market.
Source: The Star Online via TechCrunch
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