Netflix posts its first quarterly loss in 7 years

Netflix has lost $5 million in the first quarter of 2012, compared to a $60 million in net income over the same period in 2011, making this its first quarterly loss in seven years These losses could continue through the second quarter with Netflix forecasting anywhere between a $6m loss and an $8m gain over this period.

This loss was most likely due to it losing 750,000 subscribers following its controversial price increase. To make matters worse, Netflix now faces even bigger challenges as more companies are expected to start their own competing streaming services. Netflix’s goal is to add 7 million US streaming subscribers, but so far it is predicted to only gain 2.7 million over the first half of 2012.

Netflix’s streaming customers have grown to 26.5 million, of which 23.41 million are US based and 3.07 are international. It’s US and international subscribers increased by 1.74 million and 1.21 million in the first quarter of 2012, respectively. Its US DVD subscriptions however have dropped by over 1 million to just 10.1 million.