Netflix has announced that it will begin operating in The Netherlands later this year, further expanding its European footprint. The Netherlands, Netflix’s seventh European country, is a relatively small market for the streaming video service, but in keeping with Netflix’s more cautious approach to moving into new countries after its aggressive international expansion last year lost money.
After breaking into several international markets, including the UK, Ireland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland, in 2012, Netflix said in January that it would dramatically decrease the rate of its overseas expansion in 2013. During the past six months, Netflix has not launched in any new countries.
In its first-quarter earnings report this April, Netflix said that it expects a profit of up to $149 million from its U.S. streaming business in the second quarter, but losses of up to $81 million from its international streaming in 40 countries. The company’s U.S. business is also given a boost by its DVD-by-mail segment, which will contribute additional profits of up to $112 million.
Netflix now has 7.1 million international users in Canada, Great Britain, Ireland, Scandinavia and parts of Latin America and the Caribbean. The streaming video company currently has 29.2 million streaming subscribers in the U.S.
The company did not give any details about its catalog or pricing, but it did say that users in The Netherlands will get access to Hollywood-produced, local and global TV series and films, including Netflix Original Series “House of Cards” and “Arrested Development” on their mobile devices, PCs and game consoles. A site for The Netherlands is now open for notification sign-ups.