Netflix video streaming giant hits 30 million members worldwide

PanARMENIAN.Net - Netflix, the movies and TV streaming giant, now has more than 30 million members around the world, including 5m outside of the US, Digital Spy said.

The company hit the 10m members landmark in 2009, a decade after first launching its DVD mail-out service in America.

As digital devices became more widely adopted, Netflix shifted to a focus on streaming, delivering content online and on smartphones, tablets and other internet-connected products.

This led to an attempt to spin off the Netflix postal business last year, only for the company to backtrack on the move after criticism from customers.

But such controversies have not slowed the company's growth. Netflix passed 20m members at the end of 2010, following expansion in the US and Canada.

The streaming service debuted in Europe in early 2012, boosting Netflix past 30m subscribers this autumn.

The majority of Netflix subscribers (25m) are in the US, with the remainder spread across 50 other countries, including Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland among the most recent additions.

Netflix competes with other, equally well-funded content streaming services, including the Amazon-owned LoveFilm and the Sky-operated NOW TV service, which was launched this year.