iWorld
Netflix Q2CY24 results – Paid password sharing/ad revenue saves the day
Mumbai: Netflix’s Q2CY23 revenue stood at USD 8,187mn, a growth of 0.3 per cent QoQ and 2.7 per cent YoY. The company expects revenue growth to accelerate in the second half of CY23 as it will have the full benefits of paid sharing plus continued steady growth in the ad-supported plan.
Operating income for the quarter stood at USD 1,827mn, a growth of 6.6 per cent QoQ & 15.8 per cent YoY. Operating margin grew 130 bp QoQ and 250 bp YoY to 22.3 per cent. The company is targeting a full year CY23 operating margin of 18 per cent to 20 per cent.
Total paid subscribers at the end of the quarter stood at 238.4mn, a growth of 2.5 per cent QoQ & 8.0 per cent YoY. The total no. of US & Canada paid subscribers grew 1.6 per cent QoQ & 3.1 per cent YoY to 75.6mn whereas the rest of the world subscribers grew 3.0 per cent QoQ & 10.5 per cent YoY to 162.8mn. Netflix added a total of 5.9 mn paid members in the Q2CY23, as compared to losing nearly 1mn members in Q2CY22.
The company remains focused on creating a steady drumbeat of must watch shows and movies, improving monetization, growing the enjoyment of games and investing to improve service for members.
Netflix has been working to improve the monetization through initiatives like paid sharing and advertising. This will allow the company to generate more revenue off a bigger base, which can be reinvested to make the company even better for members.
iWorld
WhatsApp may soon let users to pick who sees their status updates
The messaging giant is borrowing a page from Instagram’s playbook as it pushes to give users finer control over their social circles.
CALIFORNIA: WhatsApp is quietly working on a feature that could make its Status function considerably smarter and considerably more private.
According to reports from beta tracking platforms, the app is testing a tool called Status lists, which would allow users to create named groups such as close friends, family and colleagues, and control precisely which group sees each update. It is a meaningful step up from the platform’s current blunt instruments, which offer only three options: share with all contacts, exclude specific people, or manually select individuals each time.
The new feature draws an obvious comparison with Instagram’s Close Friends function, and the resemblance is unlikely to be accidental. Both platforms sit within Meta’s family, and the company has been nudging them toward a common logic of audience segmentation for some time.
The move also fits neatly into WhatsApp’s broader privacy push. The platform has been rolling out enhanced chat protections and is exploring the introduction of usernames, which would allow users to connect without exchanging phone numbers. Status lists extend that philosophy from messaging into broadcasting.
Meanwhile, Status itself has been evolving well beyond its origins as a simple photo-and-text slideshow. The feature now supports music stickers, collages, longer videos and interactive elements, pushing it closer to the social-media-style story format pioneered by Snapchat and refined by Instagram. In that context, finer audience controls are not merely a privacy feature. They are a precondition for people sharing more.
The feature remains in development and has not been confirmed for release. WhatsApp routinely tests tools that are later modified or quietly shelved. But the direction of travel is clear: the app wants Status to be a destination, not an afterthought. Letting users decide exactly who is in the audience is how it gets there.
