Nascent streaming platform Quibi has reportedly lost over 90% of its userbase after free 90-day trials offered during the app's launch ended. The app hasn't done well for itself in general, launching with numerous shortcomings and drawing far fewer users overall compared to industry giants.
The data regarding Quibi's userbase comes from Sensor Tower, an analytics firm specializing in the mobile app market. According to Streaming Tower, just under 10% of the app's userbase converted the paid subscribers while the rest abandoned the app. 910,000 users initially joined the app during its April launch, but only 72,000 or so remain.
The drop is unsurprising, given Quibi's relatively obscure nature and the stiff competition the fledgling service faces from market giants such as Netflix
To make matters worse for Quibi is the lack of noteworthy content and the actual type of content it produces. When consumers think of the sector giants, they can quickly think of notable shows for each: Netflix has massive hits such as Stranger Things and Tiger King; Disney+ has The Mandalorian as well as an enormous backlog of Star Wars content and Disney's decades of films; Hulu has Harlots, Ramy, and Letterkenny. Further compounding the struggle for viewers is the rising prevalence of network-based streaming services such as NBC's soon-to-launch Peacock (parent company Comcast,
Quibi's claim to fame was its short-form content, usually only nine or so minutes long. Critics of the platform, while mixed to negative on Quibi overall, were receptive to the format of short-form shows, though it's worth noting that they had little good to say about the actual shows themselves. Quibi's short-form content isn't entirely unique, however; short-form flash cartoons and short live-action skits have been a staple across many internet sites since the early 2000s, and are often provided for free. Alphabet's
Even worse for Quibi was its unfortunate timing. Professionally made short-form content would be a far more intriguing concept if Quibi were released about a year ago. Still, Quibi pushed forward with its April release despite being in the midst of the worst of the coronavirus pandemic. Short-form content in the vein of Quibi's shows is best marketed towards busy Americans who would likely take in episodes during their commute or during breaks throughout the workday. With so many Americans furloughed, unemployed, or working remotely, consumers had plenty of time to devote to full-length content from existing streaming platforms they already had subscriptions to.
Something to consider about Quibi's failure is the considerable financial and material support the platform had, mainly from big entertainment industry names such as Disney, Sony
For its part, Quibi has tried to dispute Sensor Tower's findings. Quibi has tried to assert that 5.6 million users have downloaded its app and that conversion to paid subscribers was "above mobile app benchmarks." Quibi did not provide any hard numbers, which makes their claims dubious at best. Sensor Tower, on the other hand, has a solid reputation as an accurate analytics group, and there's little reason to doubt the veracity of the company's findings.
- https://www.theverge.com/2020/7/8/21318060/quibi-subscriber-count-free-trial-paying-users-conversion-rate
- https://gizmodo.com/more-than-90-of-quibi-users-reportedly-bailed-after-fr-1844321499
- https://9to5mac.com/2020/07/09/quibi-paid-subscriber-estimate/
- https://www.fool.com/investing/2020/04/12/quibi-what-does-it-mean-for-future-of-streaming.aspx