Why Quibi Launched at the Wrong Time Nicoló Follow Apr 7 · 3 min read

Photo by Aron Visuals on Unsplash and remixed by the author.

Quibi, a new short-form vertical video streaming platform aiming to rival the likes of Netflix, recently launched worldwide on iOS and Android, and it could not have come at a worse time. The app’s entire unique selling proposition was meant to be that unlike regular streaming apps which are intended to be consumed in the living room, Quibi is designed for consumption on the go. The content is around ten minutes long, and episodes are released every day in an attempt to fit into people’s busy and active schedules seamlessly, to capture that spare moment on the bus or on the way to work.

While this plan would have worked flawlessly in theory, in practice, the creators of Quibi could have never predicted the massive repercussions that COVID-19 would have on the lifestyle of the entire world population. From one moment to the next, Quibi began directly competing with Netflix and Amazon Prime rather than competing for an entirely different use-case entirely. These days no one is on their way anywhere, so unless Quibi’s content is much better than the content on Netflix, there is now absolutely no reason why you would buy a subscription to Quibi to watch the shorter-form content on a much smaller screen.

Illustration by the author showing how Quibi is intended for use ‘on the go’

It is almost difficult not to feel bad for how the stars aligned for Hollywood’s most hotly debated startup. The startup raised over $1.75 Billion and has allegedly spent a large portion of that on marketing which is why you probably heard the name ‘Quibi’ before it even launched. At its core, it is undoubtedly a good business model, it fills a gap that no one has ever tried to properly fill, aside from individual creators on YouTube and, albeit poorly, also Snapchat. The timing has just come at perhaps the worst time Quibi could have ever possibly wished for.

Screenshot directly from Quibi website

There is, however, another slightly less apocalyptic way of looking at the current outlook for the young startup. It could foreseeably be argued that actually, although Quibi content is not intended for viewing at home, it could be that due to the coronavirus quarantine people have so much time on their hands that they may have exhausted all the content from the other streaming sites and may be more willing to try new, more experimental content. This, paired with a three-month free-trial, could potentially be a great and unique way into a new market. Only time will tell whether this has been detrimental or beneficial to Quibi’s vision as a whole and who knows, Quibi may become a household name two to three months down the line and may forever be associated with the time the earth stood still.

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