Netflix Inc. (NFLX), reacting to customer anger, retreated from a decision to split its mail-order DVD service from its Internet streaming and will continue to run both from a single website. The shares climbed in early trading.
“Consumers value the simplicity Netflix has always offered and we respect that,” co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Reed Hastings said today in an e-mailed statement. “There is a difference between moving quickly — which Netflix has done very well for years — and moving too fast, which is what we did in this case.”
Customers will be able to access the streaming and mail- order services from Netflix.com, with one account and password, the Los Gatos California-based company said in the statement. Netflix on Sept. 18 said people who wanted DVDs would have to sign up for a new service called Qwikster, requiring a separate account and billing.