Netflix's shrinking DVD service faces uncertain future

Netflix's video streaming service is booming while its steadily shrinking DVD-by-mail business has turned into an afterthought.

The company's latest quarterly report showed the streaming service added another 7 million subscribers worldwide during the final three months of last year to end December with nearly 94 million customers. The growth surpassed analyst projections.

But the DVD service shed another 159,000 subscribers during the final three months of 2016 to end December with 4.1 million customers. That's an 11-year low for a format that enabled Netflix to launch its streaming service a decade ago.

Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter now believes Netflix's DVD service might only last for another five to eight years before the company shuts it down.

Netflix says it hasn't yet considered closing the DVD service.