It’s not been a good year for Netflix. The streaming giant has lost over 200,000 subscribers in the first quarter of 2022. With a reported 221.6 million current customers, this is the first time the OTT platform has reported a negative growth in a decade. 

The streaming platform though has shifted the blame on to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, which saw the suspension of its services in Russia. However, the company is said to have witnessed a “nice growth” in countries like India, Japan, the Philippines, Thailand and Taiwan.

Despite noticing a growth of 1.09 million in the Asia and Pacific region, Netflix founder and chairman Reed Hastings is considering taking some drastic measures, including an ad-based model for lower-priced plans. He was quoted saying, “We’re trying to figure out over the next year or two. But think of us as quite open to offering even lower prices with advertising as a consumer choice.”

Of course, the internet has its own opinion, with many blaming the quality of the content the streaming platform has put out recently. One of the biggest voices here came in the form of Elon Musk, who blamed “woke minds” for Netflix’s hemorrhaging subscriber base.

Netflix has been making strides to attract a larger audience, including slashing its subscription prices in India and introducing a new cloud gaming platform in the US. However, the platform recently came under fire due to an alleged report which claims Netflix was preparing to end password sharing among its customer base.