"Squid Game" fervor helps Netflix pick up 4.38M subscribers

The rise in subscribers is projected to continue through the end of the year

Netflix’s most popular release, “Squid Game” has led to an increase in subscribers beyond expectations. (Reuters/Yonhap News)

The smash success of “Squid Game,” the South Korean-produced original series on Netflix, has helped the world’s biggest video streaming service attract more new customers than expected in the third quarter, Reuters reported on Tuesday.

Netflix announced on Tuesday that it had gained 4.38 million new subscribers around the world between July and September — outpacing both financial analysts’ prediction of 3.86 million and Netflix’s own prediction of 3.5 million. That pushed Netflix’s total subscription base, as of the end of September, to 213.6 million.

“The fervor around ‘Squid Game’ also is expected to lift the current quarter. Netflix projected it will pick up 8.5 million new customers by year’s end,” Reuters reported.

Reuters noted that “Netflix enjoyed a subscriber boom last year” as more people began working from home amid the outbreak of COVID-19, a trend that abated in the first half of the year. But growth has picked back up with the success of “Squid Game,” released on Sept. 17.

The drama, which topped Netflix ratings in 94 countries, has been viewed by a total of 142 million households, Netflix said.

The boom in subscribers was more pronounced in areas other than the US and China, the Wall Street Journal reported, noting that “the Asia Pacific region was among the company’s strongest in terms of new members.”

Netflix is also pushing to open up new markets, offering a free service in Kenya, for example.

Netflix posted US$7.48 billion in sales in the third quarter, an increase of 16% from the same quarter last year. The company’s net profits also jumped 83%, to US$1.45 billion.

By Shin Gi-sub, senior staff writer

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]