Netflix’s Asia plan to address its subscription crisis

After a shocking first-quarter decline, Netflix Inc. is turning to Asia in an attempt to both maintain growth in the one region where it is still adding customers and reproduce its success there in other parts of the world.

Tony Zameczkowski, senior vice president of business development for Asia Pacific, stated in an interview that investment in Asia will continue to rise, including financing for the creation of indigenous films and series.

To reach more users in an area where credit cards are less widespread, Netflix is looking to cooperate with wireless carriers and digital payment businesses, he added. Netflix will continue to offer low-cost, mobile-only memberships across Asia. Asia’s approach informs the company’s movements in other emerging areas, where the platform must also grow in order to balance saturation in North America and Europe.

The world’s most popular streaming service is at a crossroads. This is the first time that the company has lost consumers in more than 10 years and predicts another drop this quarter as tough competition from other providers takes its toll on subscriber numbers. Two-thirds of Netflix’s market value has been wiped out since mid-November, putting pressure on the company to revamp its content pipeline and decrease costs at the same time.