Netflix resumes some shipments after delay

UPDATE: ‘Technology issue’ caused stoppage

By Danny King -- Video Business, 8/15/2008

AUG. 15 | Netflix late yesterday resumed shipping DVDs to some of its subscribers after a “technology issue” halted disc distribution for more than two days.

The company was expecting to resume regular shipments today, though offered “no guarantee” that its distribution system would be fully operational today, the company said on its community blog yesterday afternoon. The delay affected about a third of Netflix’s 8.4 million subscribers, Reuters reported.

This is the second big shipping outage for the company. The first was in March.

Under normal operations, Netflix ships about 1 million DVDs every day from more than three dozen U.S. shipping centers. More than 90% of its customers usually receive their requested DVDs within one day, the company said on its Web site.

“Unfortunately, we continue to experience significant shipping issues as of Thursday morning,” wrote Netflix executive Andy Rendich on the company’s community blog this morning. Rendich, who said he ran operations for Netflix, first reported the delays on the blog Tuesday afternoon, citing a “technology issue.”

Netflix last month said its second-quarter earnings rose 3.8% after it accelerated its subscriber growth during the quarter. The company had 8.41 million subscribers as of June 30.

Last week, Netflix confirmed that it began raising monthly rates for subscribers wanting access to Blu-ray titles in an effort to account for the costlier high-definition discs.

Netflix spokesman Steve Swasey didn’t immediately return a telephone message and e-mail seeking comment.