Many were shocked when Netflix announced a price increase to their most popular subscription but an analyst thinks it could have been brought on by a seemingly-innocent act a lot of people are guilty of doing.
Entertainment Weekly reported last week that new users will have to pay $9.99 for the streaming service's "two-screen" plan which allows users to stream on two devices from one account.
According to Business Insider, Goldman Sachs thinks the price increase was caused by too much password sharing.
Reportedly, Goldman speculated that Netflix jacked up the price to "reduce excessive password sharing by incentivizing users to switch to the one-screen plan." Also, the analyst thinks the price increase will "[encourage] households with multiple users to upgrade to the four-screen plan."
BI goes on to explain that Netflix subscribers could go for the one-screen plan instead, making them "a lot less likely to share their password."
"Goldman also thinks Netflix wants to push families with a lot of users to upgrade to a four-screen plan, which is now relatively cheaper compared to the two-screen option," the website said.
Either way, the Netflix price increase won't be a concern for existing users until much later.
"To continue adding more TV shows and movies including many Netflix original titles, we are modestly raising the price for some new members in the US, Canada and Latin America," the online streaming giant told Tech Insider.
"As a thank you to existing Netflix members - who aren't already benefiting from a previous price guarantee - we will maintain their current price for a year."
As the website pointed out, those who signed up for a Standard plan before May 2014 will be paying $9.99 per month in May 2016.
"Those who joined after that won't see their prices go up until a year from now," TI said.
