• Although the recent down economy has taken its toll on the retail industry as a whole, the stars are still shining on Netflix. Business has been so good that Netflix met its most recent new subscriber goal weeks before the deadline. In early 2009, Netflix surpassed 10 million subscribers—a remarkable feat. Eighteen months later, that number had grown by 50 percent to 15 million subscribers. Clearly, all these new customers are good for the company’s financials. Customers are signing up for the same reasons they always have— the convenience of renting movies without leaving home, a selection of more than 100,000 DVD titles, and low monthly fees. But the company’s current good fortunes may also be the result of consumers looking for less expensive means of entertainment. They may even be the result of consumers escaping the gloom of financial losses and economic bad news. Whatever the case, Netflix appears to have a product that thrives in bad times as well as in good.
• 1. Visit www.netflix.com. After browsing the Web site and becoming more familiar with the company’s offerings, assess the macro environmental trends that have led to Netflix’s success in recent years.
• 2. Which trends do you think have contributed most to Netflix’s current growth following recent economic woes?