Remember last month when Netflix said that it was splitting its DVD-by-mail and online streaming services, with the former taking up the new name of Qwikster? Well, forget that. Netflix announced this morning that fan outcry over the change has caused the company to completely backpedal on the idea.
“Consumers value the simplicity Netflix has always offered and we respect that. There is a difference between moving quickly — which Netflix has done very well for years — and moving too fast, which is what we did in this case,” said CEO Reed Hastings in a statement to the New York Times.
“We underestimated the appeal of the single web site and a single service,” added Steve Swasey, a Netflix spokesman. “We greatly underestimated it.”
Unfortunately, the game rentals that were coming to Qwikster have also been put on hold for the time being. Swasey said that adding that feature to Netflix was “to be determined.”
Netflix is getting hit hard on either side by content providers and consumers. The content providers are charging ever-higher licensing fees and moving content to other venues, while consumers are unwilling to pay twice as much for the same service they used to have. Can Netflix keep its head up while the blows rain down?
