Notable Netflix Analyst Explains Why Amazon Isn't A Competitor

Ask any Netflix, Inc. NFLX to name the company's biggest competitors in the online video streaming place and their response will likely include Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN. After all, Amazon is spending billions of dollars in its streaming video platform, which makes it a direct competitor, right?

Not so much, at least according to RBC Capital Markets' Mark Mahaney. Speaking to CNBC from the sidelines of the Code Conference, the analyst said that a recent survey found Netflix and Amazon Prime are in fact complementary services. The analyst sees the market being attractive enough for consumers to pick both services, especially considering Netflix's attractive $10 a month pricing.

Mahaney also noted that Netflix doesn't appear to have a hard limit on how many billions of dollars it will spend on content, so long as it is spent efficiently. All Amazon cares about is viewing rates and satisfaction levels and if these metrics go up Amazon will continue spending more.

Jeff Richards of GGV Capital was also a guest on the CNBC segment and took Mahaney's survey findings one step further. He noted that his household is subscribed to Netflix, Amazon Prime, YouTube Red, Spotify and others. As such, he said the future of entertainment will see many of these monthly subscription models benefit.

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