Netflix Price Increase: Free Chinese Option Offers Newer Blockbusters

By IBTimes Staff Reporter | July 13 2011 3:57 PM

Netflix announced a price increase that has netizens across the U.S. in a tizzy.

Reuters

Why gift DVDs when you can give unlimited access to movies and shows with a Netflix subscription? For $7.99 a month, your special one can view streaming content on a computer or TV. The plan does not include DVD’s though. However, if you think your movie-buff does want access to a DVD title, Netflix does offer that option at different rates.

Sponsorship Link

They were so upset with the Netflix price hike- totaling in at 60 percent- that there were well over 11,000 comments on the Netflix company page.

I have been a subscriber for years and WILL cancel if rates increase, one customer wrote on Netflix's Facebook page.

I'M CANCELING SEPT 30, another angry customer wrote on the company's Facebook page.

The Tweets were slightly more subdued.

So... @Netflix is hiking the unlimitedstreaming and DVD plan up to $16 a month. Guess I won't be watching DVDs anymore! wrote RangeBeagle on Twitter.

We are separating our unlimited streaming plan from our DVD plan offerings. The streaming-only plan will remain at $7.99, while we now offer DVD-only plans starting at $7.99, Netflix said, in what seemed like an attempt to explain itself to customers.

With Netflix angering people with price increases, free options on Chinese Web sites with newer blockbusters might look more appealing to American consumers. .

Tudou.com - Mandarin for Potato- is a Web site that offers full streaming films for free, often before they come out in the United States. But copyright may be an issue.

The company's slogan is literally, Everybody's a director in life.

The Web site, from mainland China, is entirely in simplified Chinese characters and many of the English-language movies are subtitled or dubbed with Mandarin Chinese.

It's a good time for moviegoers, upset with the Netflix price increase, to get a Chinese-speaking friend.