Netflix heads to Scandinavia

Netflix’s next international launch will be in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden, the subscription video giant announced late Tuesday.

The company will launch its streaming video service in Scandinavia by the end of 2012. It did not announce further details, except that it will give subscribers a mix of Hollywood movies and television shows along with local content for a monthly fee.

Netflix previously said it would launch in a new European market later this year. The Times reported in 2011 that it was considering Scandinavia along with Spain and a combination of the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium.

It launched in Canada in late 2010, in Latin America one year later, and in Britain and Ireland earlier this year. It has 3.6 million international subscribers, compared with 26.5 million in the U.S.

It has had great success in Canada, is growing but faces significant challenges in Britain and Ireland, and has struggled in Latin America.

In Scandinavia, Netflix is entering a market with high broadband Internet penetration and affluent consumers, which should make for fewer problems than it has faced in Latin America.

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