Quibi has been somewhat successful in the past week hitting 1.7 million downloads worldwide (it even launched in South Africa). This beat the company’s initial predicted number of 1.5 million downloads which is a good sign for things to come. Quibi CEO Meg Whitman says that the new mobile streaming service will be headed to TV casting soon as the initial plan was to release it at a later date but things have changed.
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Quibi launched last week for Android and iPhone users in around the world and in South Africa along with a 90-day free trial period. The company revealed that out of all its 1.7 million downloads, most users were in their low 30s. 80% of users also started watching a show after downloading the app and at least finished one episode. The service’s “quick bites” approach means that all shows range between 6-10 minute durations making them something to watch in quick bites.
Quibi’s main problem is the lack of TV support as the service launched with no large-screen support at all. You cannot even download the app on a PC, iPad or tablet. However, that will soon change as the company announced that their initial plan was to allow users to cast shows to their TV. This feature was planned to release at a much later date but has now taken preference as the company wants to release Quibi on TV as soon as possible.
Quibi may have some decent numbers but they are low compared to other streaming services. Disney+ surpassed 10 million users last month with 3.2 million app downloads. Quibi could see a spike in new users should the service release on TV. We don’t know what the future holds for the service or when exactly this TV support will roll out.
Personally, I have enjoyed the app. I watch some daily new episodes including Dishmantled and BBC News. Will I pay R129 a month to watch the news once a day? Not really but let’s hope there’s some life still to come from the service in the coming months.
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