Everyone is fond of Television. It is a technology that fundamentally changed entertainment. From twin colored dull shows to dynamic shows of today’s world, TV holds a prominent place in the lives of people across the globe.
With the introduction of online services such as video on demand, today people have more authority and choice in what they want to see and when they want to see it. No longer do you have to wait long hours just to get a glimpse of your favorite series or movie or even wait a week for the next episode. Online websites like Hulu, Netflix and many others have made TV more accessible and are changing the landscape of TV shows and people’s’ TV behavior.
Despite the fact that Netflix is unavailable in most countries, it is still one of the world’s most famous streaming program. However, there are some countries like Philippines and Malaysia who, although have Netflix available in them, aren’t provided with a wide variety of services or shows that are culturally relevant and in the local language. Thus Iflix was born. Iflix came was founded as a streaming service for countries like Philippines and Malaysia and other Southeast Asian countries to get to enjoy the full experience of online video on demand.
Introduction:
Iflix is a small step in the world of online video demand but a big leap for the countries which don’t have the complete features of online video demand services. They have struck countries like Philippines and Thailand with a storm of entertainment options provided at an unbelievably low price.
Iflix is a collection of movies and TV shows that users can download or stream from anywhere, anytime and especially from any platform, ranging from smartphones to smart TV at an amazingly low prices. It has magnificent collection of TV shows and movies from all across the globe. While Iflix has a collection of a large number of popular Hollywood TV shows and movies, they also have an arsenal that consists of many local shows and movies. For instance, Iflix provides its subscribers with a wide varieties of local Thai and other Southeast Asian shows, which Iflix competitors don’t offer.
And the remarkable thing is that Iflix is providing all of this at a price less than that of a pirated DVD-easily found on the streets of SE ASian cities. Iflix has essentially made it easier to access the movies and TV shows legally than it is to access them illegally.
Founding
It all started in 2014 when Patrick Grove and Mark Britt founded Iflix for the people of SouthEast Asia. At that point, people in the region had to put in lots of effort just to find their favorite TV shows and movies. With the introduction of Iflix everything changed; now they were provided with an easy and affordable way to watch and even download their favorite
TV shows and movies.
Iflix was founded in 2014 by the CEO of Malaysia-based Catcha Group, and Evolution Media Capital (EMC) Patrick Grove. The headquarters of Iflix is in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. In a span of just a few short months, Iflix announced that it had completed a $30 million round of funding. In May, it launched its services in Malaysia and Philippines and in that same month the executives of Iflix announced the formation of its advisory board consisting of selected elite Hollywood business members. With the passage of time more and more esteemed Hollywood studios partnered with Iflix such as MGM and Walt Disney. In August 2015, MGM become its investor as well. In November 2015, Iflix was officially launched in Thailand with plan to continue expansion across the region into countries such as Vietnam.
Iflix Founders:
Iflix was founded by joint ventures of Patrick Grove and Mark Britt.
Patrick Grove:
Patrick Grove is a well known entrepreneur and, at 40, as already achieved much more than most entrepreneurs achieve in their entire life. He was awarded Young Entrepreneur of the year by the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Asia’s best young Entrepreneur by Bloomberg Business. He currently holds the position of CEO of Catcha Group and is a co-founder of Iflix.
Mark Britt:
He is the co-founder of Iflix and is a leader in technology, content, and marketing led business. He holds a diploma in law from LPAB. Prior to joining Iflix, he worked for nine entertainment and Microsoft. He played a vital role in the expansion of Microsoft’s consumer business in Southeast Asia.
Iflix features
Iflix had an edge over its competitors in the countries it currently operates in because of the exceptional features it is providing. These are some of the features which make Iflix unique:
Price:
Iflix is providing the same level of entertainment as Netflix does, if not more, at a much lower price. The asking price of Iflix is more than 50 percent less than that of Netflix. This is one of the main reasons why Iflix has seen so much success in such a short span of time. TV viewers in SouthEast Asia require a different pricing model and Iflix has done a good job of meeting those needs.
Content:
Some may think that because of the low price, Iflix offers little quality content. However, quite the opposite is true. Iflix offers an even wider variety of content than Netflix in the countries it’s currently operates in. When looked at side by side, Iflix offers more shows to viewers in places like Malaysia. Additionally, Iflix officials have stated their intended plans for the production of local dramas-an exciting development SE Asian viewers in addition to offering more local shows such as Koreanovelas.
Investment Rounds:
Iflix is relatively new, but since its inception it’s been well funded by the Catcha group and Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT). In April 2015, it was funded with an amount of approx. $30M. And about a year later it received $45 million in funding from European pay-TV giant Sky PLC. In addition to this economic security, many famous Hollywood and local Thai celebrities have shown an interest in investing in the Iflix and have contributed to the company’s success over the past couple of years.
Revenue:
The estimated revenue of Iflix is less than one million dollars at the moment, but it won’t be long before we see significant increases. According to sources, by July 2015, they had over 100,000 users and saw 200,000 users sign up in Thailand during a 12 week trial a few months ago. Currently, Iflix has over one million subscribers.
Operating Countries:
Iflix is currently operating in four countries and probably Pakistan will be its fifth destination. They have found huge success in each of the four countries they set their foot in and probably Pakistan will be another chapter in their successful journey. Its services are currently available in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Philippines. Countries like Costa Rica, Vietnam, and Myanmar along with Kenya are also in sight of Iflix officials as their future possible destinations.
Iflix Competitors:
Netflix versus Iflix:
Netflix is world largest rental media platform with over six million subscribers. These subscribers have access to more than 75,000 DVD titles. And for all these services they charge approx. $4.99/month. In addition to this, subscribers don’t have to worry about late fees and shipment charges because Netflix doesn’t charge one. However, Netflix’s hold in Southeast Asia wasn’t that strong and companies like Iflix capitalized on that vacuum and used its lack of popularity to make a name for themselves. In Southeast Asia Iflix has claimed their supremacy in Online Video on Demand network and are providing more promising offers than Netflix does in the region of Southeast Asia. Netflix does have an edge over Iflix in the areas of audio, as Iflix uses poor audio for its videos which is frustrating for many subscribers while Netflix provide great audio quality across all platforms.
HOOQ And Others:
HOOQ is another Netflix type service available for the people of Southeast Asia. However, companies like HOOQ have bigger challenges to face in this region because Iflix has already quickly established their stronghold in this region. HOOQ can be termed as an eligible competitor for Iflix along with companies like YUPPTV and THOUGHFUL but because of recent funding rounds, Iflix have got an edge over each of them.
Conclusion:
For the users of Southeast Asia, it can’t get better than this. For such a small sum of money, they are provided with top-notch entertainment. For instance out of IMDB’s top 15 TV shows, Iflix offers nine of them including shows like The Flash, American Horror Story, Arrow, Fargo, Gotham, The Big Bang Theory, Supernatural, etc. Netflix might be more well-know for now but Iflix is surely catching up at a rapid rate and with such generous funding, they are sure to find immediate success.
No one can disagree with the fact that Iflix hasstarted very promisingly. But to keep going at this rate of success it is going to be quite tough and if they have the desire to reach the height of success its competitors like Netflix have, they got to work even harder.