Is Netflix losing its US appeal?

Disappointing growth in the US raises fears that Netflix may be starting to have trouble attracting more subscribers. Photo / iStock

Bingeing on Netflix appears to be losing some of its appeal in the U.S., even as the addiction rapidly spreads to other parts of the world.

The internet video service presented the latest snapshot of its steadily growing audience with this week's release of its third-quarter earnings. The results were highlighted by the addition of 3.62 million million subscribers during the three months ending in September, slightly more than the company had predicted it would attract.

Netflix has picked up 16 million more subscribers during the past year alone, leaving the service with 69 worldwide customers through September.

But Netflix didn't gain as many US subscribers during the latest quarter as management anticipated, a shortfall that it blamed on an unusually large number of accounts that were cancelled because their credit cards couldn't be charged.

The disappointing growth in the US appeared to raise fears that Netflix may be starting to have trouble attracting more subscribers in its biggest market as it faces tougher internet-video competition from Amazon.com, Hulu and an online-only application from pay-TV provider HBO.

Netflix's stock shed $9.45, or 8.5 per cent, to $100.70 in extended trading after the numbers came out.