[epiphanitus]

>> I think Netflix will become the next Apple in India. They gotta think like an Indian company and not as an American company!

Whats the difference between thinking like an Indian company vs an American company? You got me curious.

>> Hotstar has been killing it. They have the massive advantage of streaming live sports, especially IPL and other cricket matches.

I take it they are funding it with ads? Do you think they will fund everything with ads long term or are they just buying time to build market share before converting to a subscription model?

[govg]

The difference is usually in the kind of customer you wish to attract - in India companies tend to focus on lower cost to acquire customers, and this works just because of the sheer size of the country. You have cities with populations in the millions, which have a sizeable population with access to high quality internet services. In the US, the focus would be on higher margins per customer, both because the total number of available customers aren't as high as in India, and an individual customer can afford a lot more than in India.

[vijaybritto]

American companies don't always go for the lowest common denominator and the public quickly associate them with luxury. Apple is a luxury brand here and they refuse to price their products that are reachable to the masses. They sell inferior products compared to the other products in the market currently. For ex apple thinks people will buy 2 year old iPhones at higher cost than one plus 7.

Netflix is doing the same with this 480p vids for 199rs.

Yes hotstar shows ads but they aren't a startup. They are the online branch of the massive star group

[throwaway13000]

>> Whats the difference between thinking like an Indian company vs an American company? You got me curious.

To a first order of approximation, Most american products are tailored towards "Ease of use", "Batteries included" style. All most all Indian products are focused on claiming cheapest cost at the cost expense of convenience.

[tylerchilds]

Disney owns Hotstar, so they've got multiple avenues to fund/subsidize it.