Jon Erlichman

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Netflix Inc. is set to report its third-quarter results after the closing bells on Tuesday.  Regardless of the market reaction to the company’s earnings, the numbers will be another reminder of the streaming service’s rapid global growth.

One milestone in particular to watch for is whether the company tops 200 million paying subscribers around the world.

Netflix began the quarter with nearly 193 million subscribers.  In the previous quarter — with much of the world stuck at home due to the COVID-19 pandemic — it added more than 10 million paying members.

The company itself is not expecting a similar surge this quarter, but still estimated it would add another two million subscribers, which would boost its global count to roughly 195 million.

Meanwhile, 12 Wall Street analysts polled by Bloomberg expect subscriber numbers will top 196 million during the quarter and easily surpass 200 million by the end of this year.

Let’s put that growth in context.

Netflix launched its streaming service in early 2007 and oversaw steady growth to 100 million paying subscribers worldwide by the third quarter of 2017.  In other words, it took more than 10 years for Netflix to reach 100 million paying subscribers.

By comparison, Netflix will have added its next 100 million paying subscribers in roughly three years — that’s less than a third of the time it took to reach the first 100 million.

That speed highlights the power of popular digital subscription offerings — whether it’s Netflix, Disney+, Spotify or Apple Music.