Netflix has led the South Korean online streaming industry for years. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, April 13 (Korea Bizwire) — Netflix saw its revenue more than double in South Korea last year as the video streaming giant enjoyed rapid user growth amid the pandemic, its filing showed Tuesday.
Netflix Services Korea Ltd.’s sales last year stood at 415.45 billion won (US$356 million), up 123.5 percent from the previous year, while operating profit reached 8.82 billion won, up 295 percent over the cited period, according to the filing.
Most of the company’s sales last year came from user streaming fees, which stood at 398.8 billion won, compared with 175.6 billion won the previous year.
This is the first time that the company has disclosed its financial statement since 2016, when it started offering its services in South Korea.
The jump in sales came as the video streaming giant saw fast growth in users.
Monthly active users on Netflix topped 10 million in February this year, compared with 4.7 million in January last year, according to local data tracker IGAWorks.
Netflix has said its paid subscribers in South Korea reached 3.8 million as of the end of last year.
The video streaming giant has also promised to strengthen focus on the local market, committing $500 million this year to produce original Korean content. It has made moves to further improve profitability, recently removing its one-month free trial period.
Netflix still faces growing competition, with local player Wavve planning to invest 1 trillion won in content by 2025 and the launch of U.S. media giant Walt Disney Co.’s flagship streaming serving Disney+ in the country later this year.
(Yonhap)
