Squid Game saves Netflix Asia

South Korean dystopian hit ‘Squid Game’ has helped make Asia a lone bright spot for Netflix Inc., which added more than 1 million subscribers in the region last quarter, even as the streaming service’s total audience declined for the first time in a decade. 

‘Squid Game,’ in which a group of indebted people compete in deadly versions of childhood games to win life-changing money while super-rich VIPs watch, became Netflix’s biggest launch ever. That success has spawned a deeper push into Asian content, including the Korean zombie series “All Of Us Are Dead” that took off this year.

Netflix shares plunged about 25% in extended trading after saying it lost 200,000 customers in the first quarter — the first time it has shed subscribers since 2011. The company also said it expects to shed 2 million more this quarter. 

The company lost customers in three of its four regions, including more than 600,000 in the U.S. and Canada. It blamed most of that attrition on a price increase, and said the decline was expected. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine cost the company another 700,000 customers when it had to pull its service in Russia, resulting in a loss of 300,000 customers in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region.

In contrast, Asia-Pacific subscribers rose 1.09 million to 33.7 million. 

“We’re making good progress in APAC where we are seeing nice growth in a variety of markets including Japan, India, Philippines, Thailand and Taiwan,” management wrote in a letter to shareholders.