Netflix’s international expansion finally paying off

With its decision to have Netflix everywhere, the company is now seeing the fruits of that expansion in this 1st quarter (Q1) of 2017 with a $43m contribution profit as shown by Statista in the chart above. Netflix’s definition of contribution = Revenues – (Cost of revenues + Marketing expenses)

Profits in its more mature international markets were more than its newer international markets, but hopes that in this year they all make record profits. There is a hurdle to expansion however:

Perhaps the biggest challenge in operating at a global scale is managing content licenses for so many different markets. With this in mind, Netflix’s original content will play a huge role in determining the company’s future success and profitability. While licensing deals have to be negotiated individually for each market, Netflix can roll out its own content to a global audience without facing substantial additional costs. – Statista

Regarding subscribers here are the numbers around the US and internationally as of Q1 of 2017: