Netflix Expands to 190 Countries Source: Dow Jon
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Source: Dow Jones News
Netflix Inc. announced Wednesday that it had tripled its reach globally by expanding into an additional 130 countries as the video-streaming service took its most aggressive step yet in its plans for international growth.
The announcement, made by Netflix Chief Executive Reed Hastings at the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, boosted the company's stock price. Shares, up 144% over the past year, rose 5.4% to $113.43 in afternoon trading in New York.
Netflix is now available in more than 190 countries following the expansion Wednesday, with the company adding service in Arabic, Korean and Chinese dialects to the 17 languages already provided.
Netflix isn't yet available in China but said it continues to explore options for providing the service. It also won't be available in Crimea, North Korea and Syria because of U.S. government restrictions on American companies.
At the start of 2015, Netflix released a letter to shareholders unveiling plans to branch into 200 countries by 2017. At the time, the service was only available in 50 countries.
Netflix, first launched in 2007, took its initial international steps in Canada, followed by Latin America, Europe, Australia and Japan.
Netflix has more than 70 million members across its 190 countries, the company said in a news release.
Write to Ezequiel Minaya at ezequiel.minaya@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 06, 2016 14:15 ET (19:15 GMT)
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