While Netflix’s first quarter financial report raised questions and confusion to some, the solid performance of the company beat expectations as it nearly doubled the figures from the past year posting a total of $718.6 billion in sales.

These impressive numbers are enough to put them on the frontline, claiming the title of the largest subscription video in North America.  This is after their growth slowed down a bit in Canada, leaving US subscribers as the primary driver of the spur in quarterly sales.  According to Ryan Lawler of Gigaom.com, over 2.2 million new subscriptions were recorded in the United States, ending Q1 with a total of 23.6 million subscribers versus 22.8 million of ComCast.

The success for Netflix became the magnet for some heightened competition.  Hulu, as one of the stiffest rivals, has been relentless in its pursuit of victory, as seen with its recent tie-up with RIM and its promising PlayBook.  However, their dizzying popularity has convinced its owners to make some drastic changes.

There are other competitors beyond Hulu, including Google.  A premium video on demand service, on the other hand, was launched by Google to challenge Apple, Hulu and of course, Netflix. YouTube is also gearing up to challenge Netflix in movie rentals aspect. Dish Network, a premier cable company, has leaned back to its Blockbuster old business model and is spending $228 million for that.

The lucrative online video industry has lured competition and Netflix, being on top has to face several skepticism and challenges. But, the company is armed with a secret weapon that made them the leader they are today: the information advantage of knowing what their customers’ desire—with this, cost allocation is well-managed since they already have a solid idea on where to put the money, with the use of analytics.  Using information advantage and spending ability, Netflix creates an incredible kind of content delivery that pleases existing and attract customers.