Watch out, traditional TV.
Online streaming giant Neflix is expected to more than double its number of video subscribers by 2020, ARK Investment Management has projected.
According to ARK’s estimates, Netflix’s subscriber base will hit 175 million in 2020, up form 75 million in 2015.
The report forecasts the United States alone will around 28 million Netflix subscribers over the next five years, for a total of nearly 72 million by 2020. China is projected to be the second largest subscriber base with nearly 12 million Netflix customers, followed by the United Kingdom, France and Germany with just under 12 million each.
The report projects that the company’s subscriber growth will be driven not only by its own international expansion and library growing efforts to cater to new audiences, but also by increased broadband penetration. ARK said the number of fixed broadband subscribers is expected to rise from 750 million in 2014 to around 925 million in 2020, driven by growth in China and developing countries.
Netflix currently provides content to users in 190 countries across the globe. ARK estimates that the United States will be the country with the highest Netflix penetration in 2020, followed by Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom. Netflix penetration in China is expected to remain modest at four percent through 2020, though the report noted that a partnership with a local Chinese operator could boost that figure – and subscriber numbers – substantially.
Similarly, ARK said its overall penetration estimates were based on fixed broadband access only, and noted that “affordable data plans for video over LTE would greatly expand Netflix’s addressable market.”
In the fourth quarter 2015, Netflix added 1.56 million U.S. subscribers from October through December and an additional 4 million international subscribers. The company said it expects to gain another 4.4 million subscribers internationally and about 1.75 million in the United States in the first quarter of 2016.