Netflix欲減少DVD郵寄，美國郵政或遭重創
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????Netflix今天宣布對DVD開戰，誓將DVD如同VHS錄像帶和Betamax錄像帶一樣掃進垃圾箱。 ????上面的說法也許有些夸張，不過Netflix確實在今天通知2，400萬訂閱用戶，Netflix將取消每月10美元的DVD郵寄和互聯網流媒體捆綁服務。Netflix還同時取消了向不限量郵寄DVD用戶提供的免費不限量觀看流媒體的服務。雖然用戶仍能分別購買上述兩項服務，但總價將比現行價格高出60%。 ????科技網站allthingsd.com的皮特?卡夫卡撰文稱： ????雖然Netflix在官方博客上闡述了提價理由，不過最直接的原因是Netflix希望其DVD用戶轉向在線視頻服務，否則就必須多掏錢。此舉將有助于Netflix削減DVD購買成本，以及（或者）帶來更多收益以購買數字視頻，這些視頻的價格已經變得越來越昂貴。 ????華爾街對此消息反應積極，Netflix的股價上漲了53美分，達到驚人的291.27美元。搜索引擎technorati對此消息似乎有些謹慎，它特別指出，眾所周知的是Netflix擁有的DVD數量要比其在線視頻數量多得多。 ????不過，如果要說到真正的不滿，就不能不提及美國郵政（the U.S. Postal Service）。當然，美國郵政并沒有公開抱怨，不過Netflix首席執行官瑞德?黑斯廷斯在去年10月表示，Netflix每年的DVD郵費為5億至6億美元。這大約占據了美國郵政從一級固定費用郵件中所取得的全部收益的20%，占據了所有一級郵件收益的1.7%。 ????而且，在去年，Netflix向用戶郵寄的DVD數量增長了9.7%。如果繼續保持這一增速，Netflix在2011年的郵費開銷將接近6.6億美元。 ????不過現在我們可以預測，Netflix的DVD訂閱用戶數將會有所下降，這將有助于Netflix提高收益，但要從美國郵政碗里分走一杯羹。大家做好郵費輕微上調的準備吧。 ????譯者：項航 |
????Netflix (NFLX) today declared war on DVDs, pledging to relegate them to the same dustbin that is occupied by VHS and Betamax tapes. ????Okay, not exactly, but the company did today tell its 24 million subscribers that they no longer can buy both the DVD-by-mail and Internet streaming services for just $10 per month. Also gone is free unlimited streaming for unlimited DVD-only users. Users can purchase each plan separately, but for 60% more than it currently costs. ????Peter Kafka writes: ????Netflix explains the rationale for the price hike in a blog post, but the short version is that it would like its DVD customers to move to the Web, or pay up. Doing so helps it cut down on discs costs and/or generate more money to help buy digital titles, which are only going to get more expensive. ????Wall Street reacted positively to the news, with Netflix shares up 53 cents to a staggering $291.27 per share. The technorati seem a bit more circumspect, particularly given that Netflix is known for having a much deeper DVD library than streaming library. ????But for real grievance, you need to look to the U.S. Postal Service. It won't publicly complain, of course, but Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said last October that his company spent between $500 million and $600 million on DVD postage. That's approximately 20% of all revenue that the Postal Service booked from first-class "flats" last year, and 1.7% of all first-class mail revenue. ????Moreover, Netflix increased the number of DVDs mailed to subscribers last year by 9.7%. Had it remained on that pace, it would have been nearing the $660 million mark for 2011. ????But now one has to assume that Netflix will soon see a decrease in DVD subscribers, thus boosting its own bottom line and taking a bite out of the Postal Service. Get ready for stamps to cost a little bit more... |
