Global revenues grew 24% year over year and was in line with the beginning of quarter forecast, while operating profit and margin reached all-time highs in Q1 2021, Netflix has revealed, adding that it would spend $ 17 billion on content this calendar year.

Though with 208 million paid memberships was up 14% YoY, the figure was below the projected target of 210 million, the streamer said in a letter to its shareholders on April 20, 2021.

“And, while the roll out of vaccines is very uneven across the world, we are back up and producing safely in every major market, with the exception of Brazil and India. Assuming this continues, we’ll spend over $17 billion in cash on content this year and we’ll continue to deliver an amazing range of titles for our members with more originals this year than last,” the streamer said.

With competition definitely heating up, especially from Disney+, Netflix wants to deliver a wide variety of best-in-class stories that its subscribers “love and watch in big numbers”.

Examples of this content breadth, according to Netflix, in Q1 included season one of Firefly Lane(49m chose to watch this title in its first 28 days), season 3 of Cobra Kai (45m), Fate: The Winx Saga(57m), and Ginny & Georgia(52m). Netflix’s top movies in Q1 included I Care A Lot(56m), YES DAY(62m), Outside the Wire(66m) and the last installment of To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before trilogy (51m).

Pointing out that viewing tastes of a subscriber differs even as per mood, the OTT platform informed its shareholders, “Another goal is to create great, locally authentic stories in countries all around the world. It’s why our priority for local language titles is to have a big impact in the home territory so we don’t sacrifice local impact for ‘travelability’. But we’re increasingly seeing that these local titles find significant audiences around the world, which supports our thesis that great stories are universal. Notable standouts this quarter include Below Zero from Spain (47m chose to watch in its first four weeks), Space Sweepers from Korea (26m), Squared Love from Poland(31m) and Who Killed Sara? from Mexico (an estimated 55m), which is also our most popular non-English title ever in the US in its first 28 days.”

Average revenue per membership rose 6%  YoY, or 5%, excluding a foreign exchange impact of +$80 million, the company said, adding operating income of $2 billion vs. $958 million more than doubled vs. Q1’20.

Netflix also anticipates paid membership growth will re-accelerate in the second half of 2021 as it ramps into a very strong back half slate with the return of big hits like Sex Education, The Witcher, La Casa de Papel(aka Money Heist), and You, as well as an exciting array of original films, including the finale to The Kissing Boothtrilogy and large scale, star-driven features like Red Notice(starring Gal Gadot, Dwayne Johnson and Ryan Reynolds) and Don’t Look Up(with an all-star cast including Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Cate Blanchett, Timothée Chalamet, and Meryl Streep).

“We’ll also have our most comprehensive offering to date of local language titles including Too Hot to Handlefor Brazil and Mexico,

a special based on Korean hit franchise Kingdom, the action-thriller Dhamaka (India), as well as new seasons of Sintonia(Brazil), and Control Z(Mexico),” Netflix informed shareholders.

The streamer also outlined new features introduced for subscribers, including a Q1 launch of an opt-in downloads for You feature for Android (with iOS coming soon) that automatically downloads recommended shows and movies onto a member’s mobile device.

“This quarter we also launched Fast Laughs, a mobile feed of short comedy clips from Netflix favorites – it’s initially available in several countries including the US on iOS and will be on Android soon. For television viewers, this month we unveiled an updated and improved experience for Kids Profile that more vividly and easily connects children with their favorite titles and characters,” the streamer said.

On competition Netflix admitted it competes with “many activities for consumers’ entertainment time”, ranging from watching linear TV, video gaming, and viewing user generated content, just to name a few.

Against this backdrop, the company said the “entertainment market is huge, giving us plenty of room to grow, if we can continue to improve our service”. Netflix admitted that it was “less than 10% of TV screen time in the US and even smaller in other regions and when including mobile devices”.