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Phone company Verizon Communications Inc. will challenge Netflix and start a video streaming service this year with Redbox and its DVD rental kiosks.

Netflix’s stock rose by about 10% last week before falling lower, driven by rumors about potential acquisition by Verizon. While reports indicated that Verizon may be seriously considering the acquisition at around $4.6 billion, the company denied that it has organized any talks or meetings with Netflix. We think that Netflix will not sell itself at the implied price per share that results from $4.6 billion bid. For details see Verizon Would Have a Tough Time Acquiring Netflix which talks about why an acquisition at stated value is unlikely, be it by Verizon or another potential suitor Amazon. In general, several analysts including Trefis analysts see any acquisition as highly unlikely.

Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter says that increased content costs, a precipitous decline in subscribers, and a 'growth at all cost' mentality will continue to hurt Netflix in the future. Read this blog post by Don Reisinger on The Digital Home.

Despite recent troubles, Netflix is a major force on the Internet, accounting for 32.7% of peak U.S. downstream traffic, according to a new report.

Netflix is abandoning its widely panned decision to separate its DVD-by-mail and Internet streaming services because it would make them more difficult to use.

Netflix illustrates a design principle that any company aspiring to succeed at disruptive innovation must adopt. It has four parts:

1. Think Big
2. Start Small
3. Fail Quickly
4. Scale Fast

Netflix cannot afford to reduce the number of titles it acquires due to the competitive environment.