In the face of competition from Blockbuster (NYSE: BBI), Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT), and perhaps eventually even Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN), DVD rental firm Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) has hung in there, deflecting blows and building its business. Founder and CEO Reed Hastings recently sat down with us on The Motley Fool Radio Show to discuss his company's past -- and its future -- as well as the competition.
When asked about which companies or market forces he feels are the biggest threat to Netflix, Hastings had the following exchange with our own Rick Munarriz:
Munarriz: "Reed, let's back up a couple of years. Back in 2003 we spoke with you, and we asked you to rank the competitive threats to your business. We presented you with Blockbuster, Wal-Mart.com, video-on-demand, and illegal Internet movie downloading and piracy. You said at the time that of those, piracy and illegal downloads were the biggest threat to your business. Do you still feel that way?"
Hastings: "I do, in terms with a long enough time horizon. So over the next quarter or two, investors are more concerned about the DVD rental competition from Blockbuster, but over the next five or 10 years, the question is, 'Will both the legal system and the technology providers work together so that entertainment products are not widely pirated as they are in some countries in the world?'"
Hastings went on, at our request, to rank the competitive threat he thinks that Blockbuster, Amazon.com, Wal-Mart, and Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) present to Netflix. Want to know how he ranked them? Tune in to The Motley Fool Radio Show this weekend to find out. Check out NPR's Fool Radio website to find a station near you.
Or come back to Fool.com next week, when we'll be running our transcript of the Netflix interview throughout the week.
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