Netflix: A Competitor To The Movie Piracy Industry In Africa
Poverty and greed are two major reasons that have caused the movie piracy industry to excel in most countries in Africa.
Look at these statistics for instance:
- 70% of the poorest countries in the world are in Africa.
- In 2010, 414 million people across sub-Saharan Africa were living on less than $1.25 a day (extreme poverty).
One would have to agree to the fact that buying an original Hollywood movie—which typically costs $9.99 or above—is a huge deal in Africa.
£1 currently equals $1.46
Piracy “saved the day”
I have been to Ghana, Nigeria, and several other West African countries, and I have made some observances about the movie piracy industry in Africa.
I can conclude that the movie piracy industry excelled in Africa because it made buying Hollywood movies cheaper, especially for low income families or individuals.
The problem with pirated movies
1). Pirated movies (especially new movies) are prone to having low quality graphics.
2). It may take some time before the pirated version of a new movie hits the market.
3). DVDs with pirated movies can easily be harmed
4). Pirated movies hurt businesses (the movie industry especially)
Netflix—the new change
With Netflix:
- Users can pay about $8 per month and have access to thousands of interesting movies in different genres.
- Users can watch movies on mobile, tablet, computers, etc
- Users can watch movies without being bothered with ads
- Up to 6 devices can be registered in one account
- Up to 4 different streams can be done with one account
Doing the math
For movie lovers:
Instead of paying $1 for a DVD with a pirated TV serie, most would rather pay $8 per month, and be eligible to watch up to 1000 TV series or movies on Netflix. This is a sensible thing to do.
