That's true, but given that Netflix and iTunes have libraries of similar size (~10k), the comparison is meaningful. For subscription services, there's a lot publicised about the number of titles they offer for their fee/month, sometimes incorrectly.
The point is, even if Netflix did offer 100,000 titles, would they offer any more of the most popular films? I'll be running the numbers against Amazon prime and Lovefilm soon, so we'll see how they compare.
One point that you may want to consider is that a Netflix subscription + selected a la carte services is a powerful and cost-effective combo. In my household, Amazon & iTunes aren't in competition per se with Netflix. Netflix gets its monthly fee regardless. When the 3 year old wants to watch something, it's Netflix. When I'm browsing around, it's often Netflix. When we want something in particular and won't wait, it's Amazon or iTunes a la carte.
While I wouldn't mind if Netflix would start offering a la carte as well, personally it's not much of a bother. The videos play either way.
So the whole "vs" approach may not be the most accurate. I'm not limited to any one of them, and with a month of Netflix costing less than a single top-tier movie "purchase" on iTunes it's not hard to justify a bit of mix and match.
This site will search all of the streaming services in one interface, and I use it for Netflix/Amazon if there is a particular movie I'm looking for: http://www.canistream.it/
Now+Free makes up for a for a whole lot of quality.
Joking aside:
Comparing only movies really skews the quality focus of the marketplaces to purchasers vice subscribers. Subscribers would be more motivated/less inhibited to watch TV series and would receive better value, than a purchaser. If that is true then iTunes would have a greater motivation to drive quality movies instead of series, and Netflix would have the inverse motivation.
I guess my point was that less arbitrary categorization would be a more accurate study. Delivery, Audience, Length, and Top Level Genres may provide more insight into the comparability of the 2 libraries.
1. Netflix doesn't get to choose what they can offer; the studios still dictate to them, and many times I know I can't find something just because some executive has a hair up his ass about "release dates".
http://www.fastcompany.com/1830524/the-juiced-misleading-siz...
The point is, even if Netflix did offer 100,000 titles, would they offer any more of the most popular films? I'll be running the numbers against Amazon prime and Lovefilm soon, so we'll see how they compare.