As others mentioned, the main value most people get from amazon prime is free 2 day shipping - not Prime Video. So its competitors are other online retailers like AliExpress, Ebay, various niche websites, and physical stores.

Also as others mentioned, prices are set as high as consumers are willing to pay. They are forced lower by competitive pressure. If consumers decide that the service is non-essential or that other competitors offer a better service for a better price for a price lower than what the company can offer the service for, then the service will need a constant influx of cash to keep running, and will eventually be ended if it cant turn a profit.

I’ve never been to India or Japan. But my guess -

Japan is an extremely dense and walkable country. A japanese person living in the city can easily find the vast majority of their product needs within a short walk of their home. And then, with space being at such a premium, their homes tend to be small, which produces a chilling effect on their desire to buy space-consuming knick-knacks. Finally, they are close to China, so AliExpress might be a larger competitor for niche products.

India is also a dense and walkable country in some places. But it is also very poor and chaotic. The average Indian will consider a prime membership for free 2 day shipping a luxury they cannot afford. Also, the chaotic nature of… well… India, might make Amazon’s 2 day shipping promise significantly less tenable, further reducing the benefit for potential customers and driving down the price.

Edit: Also, iirc, the US price for Netflix is about $15, so it is comparable to other streaming platforms.

And also also, watching tv is a non-essential service. You don’t need to watch TV any more than Jeff Bezos needs another yacht. I’m not saying that you should suck Amazons dick or anything, but you could easily reframe this as an opportunity to re-engage with reading and socializing as forms of relaxation and entertainment.

I could be wrong but I think what you’re seeing is an entrenched market versus newer ones. Amazon is shrewd about stomping its competitors by luring millions of customers with prices that are too good to be true. They get them hooked on the product and then hike the price when it becomes too habitual to get rid of.

You’re not paying for just the video service (at least in the US), prime is primarily their free 2-day shipping plan. The streaming was always just kind of an extra that was included with that

This account is fun cuz it will post questions in the form of “and here’s the information I want you to have to agree with my take”

West bad. East good. Right?

First the price is set to maximize profits, nothing else.

The reason it’s cheap in Japan is probably because the value is low for Japanese people, so they don’t want to pay more, the price they’ve set is the balance between how many subscribers they can get to maximize the total revenue and profits.

In India I imagine the value for the individual might be better, but it’s a poor country, so the low price is necessary for people to afford it.

Second they have copyright deals that vary greatly by region, so cost and content can vary greatly too.

But you can be 100% sure that the low price in India isn’t because they want to be nicer to the Indians. It’s because that’s the price that will earn them the most money.

Amazon also pays employees differently based on the local economy.

The marginal cost of a customer of a digital service approaches zero, so it doesn’t matter what they charge. In Japan, perhaps they’re working on getting customers. In India, they need it affordable.

I’m not saying it’s right or wrong, but food varies widely in cost around the world too; economic conditions vary widely around the world.

Didn’t we all agree to boycott Jeff Bezos?

In poland after recent price increase its 69 PLN annually witch is ~16 euro.