---
title: "Which came first, Android or Netflix?"
description: "Android vs Netflix: Netflix came first, by 11 years — 1997 against 2008. What happened in each case, and why the dates are often given differently."
url: https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/android-vs-netflix/
site: "At One Place"
---

# Which came first, Android or Netflix?

**Which came first, Android or Netflix?: Netflix**

1997 — 11 years before Android

Netflix came first, by 11 years. Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph founded a DVD rental-by-post company.

## Side by side

|  | Android | Netflix |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Year | 2008 | 1997 |
| Date | 2008-09-23 | 1997-08-29 |
| Category | technology | technology |
| What happened | The HTC Dream, the first Android phone, was announced. | Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph founded a DVD rental-by-post company. |

## Android

Android as a company was founded in October 2003 — four years before the iPhone — originally to build an operating system for digital cameras. Google bought it in 2005 and the first Android phone shipped in October 2008, fifteen months after the iPhone went on sale. So Android is older than the iPhone as a project and younger as a product, which is why the question needs the distinction stated.

## Netflix

Netflix was founded in August 1997, a year before Google, and posted DVDs for a decade before streaming launched in January 2007. The famous origin story — Hastings founding it after a $40 late fee on Apollo 13 — has been called a useful myth by co-founder Marc Randolph. Blockbuster declined to buy the company for $50 million in 2000.

## Common questions

### Which came first, Android or Netflix?

Netflix, by 11 years — 1997 against 2008.

### When did Android start?

2008. The HTC Dream, the first Android phone, was announced.

### When did Netflix start?

1997. Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph founded a DVD rental-by-post company.

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## Sources

- Wikidata — Wikimedia Foundation (https://www.wikidata.org/) [CC0 1.0]