Netflix has launched its service in 130 countries, nearly the whole world, with the exception of China. Previously, Netflix has been limited to a number of regions but in recent years we have seen that number of services grow rapidly. Now the streaming giant has a presence in almost every key market, including India and […]
Netflix has launched its service in 130 countries, nearly the whole world, with the exception of China.
Previously, Netflix has been limited to a number of regions but in recent years we have seen that number of services grow rapidly.
Now the streaming giant has a presence in almost every key market, including India and Russia.
CEO Reed Hastings made the announcement today at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.
While largely available in English in most new countries, Netflix today added Arabic, Korean, Simplified and Traditional Chinese to the 17 languages it already supports.
“With this launch, consumers around the world — from Singapore to St. Petersburg, from San Francisco to Sao Paulo — will be able to enjoy TV shows and movies simultaneously — no more waiting,” said Hastings. “With the help of the Internet, we are putting power in consumers’ hands to watch whenever, wherever and on whatever device.”
The key omission is China, a major market for all tech companies. No explanation has been provided by Netflix as to why it has not yet launched in the country or if it has plans to do so.
Western tech companies typically face hurdles. With opening for business in China with Netflix in the field of content, it may come head to head with China’s censorious regime.
The streaming service also “won’t be available in Crimea, North Korea, and Syria due to US government restrictions on American companies.”
“From today onwards, we will listen and we will learn, gradually adding more languages, more content and more ways for people to engage with Netflix,” said Hastings. “We’re looking forward to bringing great stories from all over the world to people all over the world.”
Since Netflix launched its streaming service in 2007, the service has expanded globally, first to Canada, then to Latin America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Japan to include 60 countries.
