Netflix confirms it will launch a mobile-only streaming plan starting in India

After giving it a test run in a few countries earlier this year, Netflix has confirmed it will officially introduce a new plan that only lets customers stream content on a mobile device. The plan, set to launch in India during the third quarter, will be priced lower than the company’s existing subscriptions.

In a letter to investors released this afternoon, Netflix said the mobile-only plan “will be an effective way to introduce a larger number of people in India to Netflix and to further expand our business in a market where Pay TV ARPU (average revenue per user) is low (below $5).” Netflix announced the new plan alongside financial results that revealed a big miss on customer growth that was way off the mark of the company’s forecast. Net subscribers in the US actually declined during the quarter. That miss is partially being attributed to price hikes, so why not go in the opposite direction and come up with a cheaper plan?

As for where else this plan might eventually become available, for now Netflix is only saying that it will “continue to learn more after launch of this plan.” Netflix’s basic plan limits video stream quality to standard definition (480p), so it’s almost certain that an even cheaper mobile tier would have the same restriction in place.

Obviously phones are covered here, but how far does Netflix’s definition of mobile device go? Can this subscription be used on Android tablets or the iPad? The Verge has reached out to the company for more details.

This plan isn’t being offered with US audiences in mind, but I’m still curious: would you go mobile-only if it meant paying less every month, or is watching on a laptop or your TV too important?