Remember that expansion into the gaming space that Netflix was talking about when it launched its Quickster DVD rental service last summer? Those plans seem to be canned together with the whole Quikster idea, according to statements by the company’s CEO Reed Hastings on Wednesday’s earnings call.
However, the company may have another interesting product in store for its streaming subscribers: 3-D movies. “On streaming, that is definitely something we can do and we will be looking at,” Hastings said. The company is already offering 3-D Blu-rays for rent, but hasn’t said how well these titles are doing. Subscription plans for physical discs have been declining sharply, and Hastings said during the call that he expects these numbers to decline quarter-over-quarter “forever.”
What else can we expect from Netflix in the next few months? Hastings said that it will finally start offering separate streaming queues for families this year, and it looks like the company is continuing to roll out Netflix for Kids on connected devices. Most recently, it rolled out the kids-focused UI on Apple TVs, and Hastings said that the device has been “very successful” for his company. Netflix will also continue to work on other devices, with a special focus on tablets. “We do see people enjoying a lot more of their viewing on tablets relative to the PC,” Hastings revealed.
Image courtesy of Flickr user bark.
Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.
- Connected Consumer 2012: A year of consolidation and integration
- Connected Consumer Q2: Digital music meets the cloud; e-book growth explodes
- Q4 Wrap-up: SOPA and the future of digital content
