Netflix to Conquer the Two Americas with Huge International Expansion

Netflix, the popular movie and TV show streaming service, has announced a bold international expansion, across the American continent. At a later, unspecified date, users in South America, Central America and the Caribbean will be able to subscribe to Netflix. In total, 43 new countries will be included in the Netflix service.

"Netflix... announced it will expand to 43 countries throughout Latin America and the Caribbean later this year, offering unlimited TV shows and movies streaming instantly," the company announced.

Netflix, which started out as a DVD rental-by-mail company, launched a video streaming service in the US in 2007, included in the regular subscription price.

Its first international venture was Canada, last year. While it was always known that Netflix would have to expand internationally at some point, the move announced today is a very bold one.

Once the service rolls out in the countries announced, Netflix will be available in every country in the two American continents.

"Upon launch, Netflix members from Mexico, Central America, South America and the Caribbean will be able to instantly watch a wide array of American, local and global TV shows and movies right on their TVs via a range of consumer electronics devices capable of streaming from Netflix, as well as on PCs, Macs and mobile devices," Netflix explained.

"Members in the region will be able to access Netflix in Spanish, Portuguese, or English, depending on their preference," it added.

The company hasn't provided any more details, like a precise launch date, prices and so on. The service is coming later in the year in these countries is all that's been announced.

It may not be the only international launch for Netflix this year, but the company most likely concentrated on this market since it probably secured rights for all of the countries in bulk. The smaller internet audiences probably made it cheaper to get the licenses as well, compared to Europe for example.