Netflix has announced a major expansion, as the video streaming service is now available in 130 new countries. With the move, virtually every single country in the world is now able to access Netflix. The company maintains the goal of becoming the world’s first fully global online streaming service.
As part of the expansion, Netflix is now available in India, Russia, Poland, Singapore, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Vietnam, Azerbaijan and hundreds of other countries. However, the streaming service will still be unavailable in China. Since the announcement of the expansion, Netflix stock has soared.
Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said that the expansion was the “birth of a global TV network.” Hastings made the bold comment while speaking at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
Netflix already operated in 60 world countries, mostly in the Americas and in Europe. The expansion includes virtually all of Asia, with China as the most notable exception. Netflix made its initial debut in Asia in September of 2015.
The company says that it is continuing to explore options for providing service in China. Still, this will be easier said than done. Media content in China is heavily censored, with popular websites such as Google and Facebook remaining blocked in the country. China has largely compensated for its absence of Netflix by offering its own streaming services that are sponsored by the state.
While China still remains the single largest gap for the surging streaming company, the country will not be alone in not offering Netflix. Other regions joining China include Crimea, North Korea and Syria.
Additionally, Netflix is planning to produce original series in languages other than English. Next year, the company will start featuring original program in the languages of French, Italian and Portuguese. Netflix currently supports 16 world languages, and it is planning on adding Arabic, Korean and both simplified and traditional Chinese in the near future.
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