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Netflix has launched its most ambitious plan yet in hopes of luring more customers.
As seen on Variety, movie streaming giant Netflix has begun offering a free tier of its service. The catch is it is only available to users in Kenya who own Android smartphones. The 100% free service will offer about one-fourth of the content available to those who subscribe to the service. Netflix hopes by giving users a taste of its service, it can convince those users of the free tier to sign up for a paid subscription.
“If you’ve never watched Netflix before — and many people in Kenya haven’t — this is a great way to experience our service,” Cathy Conk, director of product innovation at Netflix, announced in a blog post. “And if you like what you see, it’s easy to upgrade to one of our paid plans so you can enjoy our full catalog on your TV or laptop as well.”
Users of the free tier of Netflix don’t have to worry about ads popping while watching any of the limited content provided on their Android devices. But, they won’t be allowed to download any of the content to watch offline or cast it to a connected television.
When signing up, Kenyans do not need to provide their payment information, only sharing their email address and proving their 18 and over to create a password to begin using the service. Even though the content is limited, Conk promised: “you can sit back and watch many of Netflix’s most popular series and films, as well as enjoy our personalized recommendations, parental controls, and profiles (including kids).”
Kenya is the first big test for Netflix’s new approach to getting new subscribers. The company has offered free trials and some of its Netflix originals for free in other markets. If this approach is successful, it would be a safe bet to assume that Netflix will also bring the idea to other markets.
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