Despite Netflix’s scandals this year, this later half of 2021 showed no slowing down of its value in stocks. In fact, since these last three months of 2021, its per share stock value has not dropped below $600 USD.
What other strategies are employed on the Chinese language front?
No, Netflix is not selling to China. There are plenty of parallel networks existing in China.
No, it is seeking a far more lucrative sector than the growing middle class in China that can afford it. Think bigger than China.
Netflix has two names in Chinese; initially through a sound translation arriving at “Naifei” （奈飞）, now adopting a more standard meaning translation arriving at “Wangfei” （网飞). Both names indicate flight in the second syllable making it culturally appropriate for a company that should take a soaring success.
According to CNBC’s article on Netflix’s China strategy, since 2019 Netflix has invested heavily “on acquiring rights to Mandarin-language content and producing its own originals” with well known actors from Taiwan and Singapore. https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/10/netflix-has-a-china-strategy-it-doesnt-involve-launching-there-soon.html
More recently, there is a significant growing content of translations in Chinese language both simplified and traditional for Netflix movies. That means Chinese subtitles are available from standup comedic shows to foreign language films in Hindi and Danish series like Borgen.
What does this investment hope to gain?
According to the article, “The aim is to create shows for the millions of Mandarin speakers outside of China.”
What Netflix has discovered is a bigger gold mine. The Chinese speaking and reading world is far greater than China itself. It covers anywhere that is part of the Chinese diaspora, reaching beyond East Asian countries such as Macau and Malayasia to Australia, Europe, North America and more.
This move to expand Chinese translations opens up a whole lot of conversations between the Chinese speaking world and the world that was previously far more difficult to access.
How can your business expand to Asia America?
Contact Yvonne for a free consultation to discuss how to reach Chinese customers right here in the US.
