Netflix Inc. said it added fewer video streaming subscribers than expected from April through June as customers cancelled the service ahead of a price increase, and the company’s shares fell 16 per cent.

The dominant subscription video service on Monday also forecast slower-than-expected growth in US and international subscribers this quarter.

“We are growing, but not as fast as we would like or have been,” the company said in its quarterly letter to shareholders.

Netflix, which distributes popular original shows such as Orange is the New Black and House of Cards along with movies and TV shows from major Hollywood studios, signed up 1.7 million new customers in the quarter that ended in June. It had projected 2.5 million.

The company said it expects to add 300,000 subscribers in the US in the current quarter and two million in markets outside the US.

“Our global membership forecast for Q3 includes an impact from the spectacle of the Olympics,” the letter said.

Analysts on average expect the company to add 774,000 subscribers in the US and 2.85 million in the international markets in the third quarter, according to research firm FactSet Street Account.

Shares of the company were down at $84.40 in after-market trade from a close of $98.81.

Faced with slowing growth in the US, Netflix has launched in almost every country in the world. It now faces the task of adapting the service to different markets and cultures as competitors also rush in.

Netflix, in the investor letter, said it continues to explore options for starting a service in China but added: “Unfortunately, this year the regulatory climate in China for our service has become more challenging,” noting that officials in the country had shut down a Walt Disney Co. streaming service and an Apple Inc. movie offering.