But with its growth in the United States beginning to slow, Netflix may have no choice but to forge ahead in Europe, where it already has a foothold in Britain, Scandinavia and the Netherlands with a subscription service via cable or Internet broadband for which it charges the equivalent of about $10 a month.

The company did not say how much it would charge subscribers in the new markets it plans to enter, which are also to include Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg and Switzerland by the end of the year. But analysts say the arrival of a new competitor could prompt price wars, and that whatever impact that may have on the companies, it could be good news for consumers.

“The opportunity for online video services is large,” said Cesar Bachelet, senior analyst at the technology research company Analysys Mason. Mr. Bachelet expects the number of pay-TV households in Western Europe’s largest economies to increase more than fourfold by 2019, to 24.5 million.

Netflix’s expansion, to begin later this year, would be the company’s biggest rollout since it arrived in Europe in 2011. And wherever it turns, from Finland to France, Netflix will run into video-on-demand services that got there before it.

In Britain, Netflix has been battling the satellite giant Sky. Canal Plus already dominates the French market. And in Germany, Deutsche Telekom’s on-demand TV service is the powerhouse. But there are also other smaller rivals in each of these markets, as well.