Netflix sees record-breaking number of paid users

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Netflix sees record-breaking number of paid users

However, little of this growth came from the company's home market.

For the second consecutive quarter, the Asia-Pacific region contributed the most membership growth, with 2.2 million new paid sign-ups, or half of the quarter's total.

Netflix said the Korean thriller series has become the most watched TV show ever on its platform and described the record of 142 million viewing households in the first four weeks of release as mind-boggling. 'Squid Game' is incredible, but it's not that Ted Sarandos, Netflix co-CEO and chief content officer commissioned that. The most incredible part is it's the system that Reed Hastings built, said co-CEO Ted during the earnings call wearing a green tracksuit from the hit show.

There are certainly other amazing ones like that even Ted or I or any of us don't even know about, which are digesting in the Netflix content engine, he added.

For the third quarter, Netflix recorded $7.5 billion in total revenue, up 16% from the same period last year. The Asia-Pacific region contributed $834 million, up 31% year on year. Total net income for the quarter came in at $1.45 billion.

For the December quarter, Netflix forecast 8.5 million new paid users, thanks to a strong original content release line-up in the final three months of the year.

Netflix said it is hoping to build more offerings around the Squid Game intellectual property, including gaming and consumer products. The company announced last quarter that it is expanding into the gaming market to complement its existing subscription-based content.

Could you imagine three years from now, some future 'Squid Game' is launching, and it comes along with an incredible array of interactive gaming options and it's all built into the service, Hastings said.

And then of course you've got your off-Netflix aspects of experiences that we're building out, consumer products, all of that coming together, he added.

On Tuesday, Netflix's shares dipped 1% in after-hours trading after a brief 2% jump.