It’s been a little under a year since the last time Netflix raised prices in South Africa. The newest price increase from the streamer is officially only for the United States, but it’s probably not going to stay that way.
Based on last year, the American price increase isn’t going to stay localised. Last year, the US saw prices go up in January. South Africa followed suit a few months later. The current cost increase will probably follow a similar path here at home.
Ahoy there, Netflix
Everything on the platform will get $1 (R20) and $2 (R35) more expensive. Every tier is affected, from Netflix Standard (which goes from $8/m to $9/m) up to Premium ($25/m to $27/m). The cost for adding extra members onto a standard or ad-supported account will also increase by a dollar apiece.
The increases haven’t rolled out yet, and according to a company representative (via Engadget), “Existing members will be notified by email a month before the new prices are applied to them.” The reason given for the pending increase is that altered “prices in the U.S […] reflect improvements to our wide range of entertainment and the quality of our service.”
There’s no way of knowing exactly when the cost increase will hit Americans, but it should be soon. After that, we can start a countdown for similar action in other regions, including South Africa. If we’re lucky, South Africa’s Basic plan will remain untouched again. The others will likely rise between ten and twenty bucks apiece. And if we’re unlucky, the streamer will swap out SA’s Basic plan with its ad-supported tier (and still charge more for it).
