As we have learned in class recently, anti-trust laws have been created in our country to promote fair competition and to prevent the domination of a certain market by one company. Although these laws do exist, monopolies are still very prevalent in today's business world. Mr. Stewart has proved this point by showing us documentaries about Google and the NFL, demonstrating the power of a monopoly. As the world of online streaming develops, so will Netflix's monopoly.
Although Netflix is not a monopoly yet, continued growth of the company will lead to one. With the increase of online streaming numbers, companies such as Netflix have thrived. There is no longer a need for DVDs when watching a movie or TV show is as easy as clicking a button on your computer. As Netflix's business booms, others disappear. DVD stores such as BlockBuster have been forced out of business due to a lack of consumers. This is the first aspect of Netflix's monopoly. With the companies dominance, the industry allows very limited entry and exit, leading to DVD companies, as well as other streaming companies to be crushed. According to a study in December 2016, TechCrunch.com suggests that Netflix is in 75% of homes in the United States. With competition amongst other streaming services such as Hulu and Amazon Prime, 75% is a very large number. Keep in mind, this is an older study as well. Netflix's consumer number continues to grow larger and larger, and is being placed into more homes than ever before at a rapid pace.
As the company continues to profit, Netflix will be able to make other business ventures. In addition to the companies overall dominance of the market, Netflix has begun producing its own shows and movies, something other streaming services have yet to do. With the company making money at extremely high rates, it is only a matter of time before it starts buying other companies and streaming services. With this, its monopoly will continue to develop, crushing other big streaming services, and will eventually lead to the control of the market.
https://techcrunch.com/2017/04/10/netflix-reaches-75-of-u-s-streaming-service-viewers-but-youtube-is-catching-up/
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This post was very interesting as it showed an example of a monopoly in a market many of us use daily. I liked how you described Netflix embracing a new technology (streaming services) and how that has led to their monopoly and crushing of other businesses using older technology. This directly relates to other monopolies we have learned about in class, such as Standard Oil and what Microsoft and Google have done.
ReplyDeleteNetflix is a great example of a monopoly in how its dominating the online streaming industry, especially in how they have been creating its own production in movies and tv shows as you pointed out! The part about Blockbuster being booted out reminded me of other companies being replaced, including the transportation industry with Uber/Lyft replacing taxis, the mobile industry with Apple replacing Blackberries, the book industry with Kindles/ipads replacing Borders, etc. I think there are many arguments however about whether these companies brought something new to the table or if those who got replaced failed to meet meeting consumer demands and weren’t good enough to compete…I would argue that Netflix brought something new to the table and its development has seen changes, from deviating away from its it origin of being founded for the purpose of DVD rental by mailing movies to then later adopting the subscription model.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.forbes.com/sites/blakemorgan/2016/10/07/netflix-late-fees-and-consumer-centric-ideas/#1c47888f13ec
This post did a good job showing an example of a monopoly that we commonly use. I like how you give examples of how Netflix has become a monopoly and its effects on other companies such as BlockBuster. I also like that you brought up how Netflix can continue to grow by creating their own movies and eventually could be moving on to other things.
ReplyDeleteI found this post interesting because I have both Netflix and access to Amazon Price video. However, I notice that most of the time, I choose Netflix when streaming because of it's easy use and its greater access to TV shows and movies. Because of this, I see how Netflix could turn into a monopoly since they are superior to their competitors. You also brought up a good point that not only are they strong competitors against other streaming industries, but also the DVD industry. This is similar to the introduction of music streaming, because a consumer would much rather have unlimited access to hundreds of movies for a monthly fee instead of purchasing each individual DVD that they may only watch once.
ReplyDeleteYour post really clarified how Netflix seems to be becoming a monopoly. Something I wondered is how Youtube will play into Netflix's future. Youtube is starting to have TV shows and films that you can watch through the platform, becoming its own sort of movie library. Seeing whether Youtube, being a a very large and influential company, will have the power to overcome Netflix's control is something we will definitely need to watch out for in the future. Additionally, Netflix has been raising their prices and rates. They claim the higher prices are only for selected premium packages, but these packages are just features older versions of netflix had for no additional cost. This price control they seem to have is yet another example of how they may be a monopoly.
ReplyDeleteI found this post really interesting because I was always curious about the details of blockbusters disappearance. I'm curious why streaming services such as Amazon Prime and Hulu haven't caught on like Netflix. They have a very similar service for streaming yet Netflix has the big title that everyone knows. Recently, Netflix has also began dropping their own original series, some becoming very well know and popular, bring even MORE attention to their already gigantic streaming service.
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