Reed Hastings: ‘Qwikster became the symbol of Netflix not listening’

"The focus for us is in rebuilding our reputation."

-- Netflix chief Reed Hastings during a conference call with investors on Monday, shortly after the company reported it lost 800,000 U.S. subscribers during the third quarter--200,000 more than it expected--in a customer backlash against a subscription price hike. The latest bad news for the company sent Netflix's stock price plummeting. Hastings admitted that his decision to split its DVD and streaming businesses was also a mistake. "In hindsight, it is hard to justify," he said. "Having separate brands can in theory make sense. However, after the price increase, Qwikster became the symbol of Netflix not listening."

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