A potential rival to Netflix and Youtube that targets mobile users named Quibi was launched on Monday for American users. It had raised $1.8 billion prior to its launch.
Quibi aims to appeal especially to users who watch videos on their phones. All their shows are under 10 minutes, with movies being divided up into many segments. Executives stated that they are aiming for the 18-44 audience members who are already accustomed to watching videos on their phones.
Former CEO and president of Hewlett Packard Meg Whitman is the businesswoman behind Quibi. There are more features that make it clear that Quibi is trying to get to the mobile users more aggressively than their industry rivals.
Most notably, all the shows on Quibi can be watched in landscape or portrait mode. Certain shows have even incorporated features that urges the users to change the viewing ratio.
Jeffrey Katzenberg is the other half of the leadership in charge of Quibi. He famously served as a creative director for Disney before successfully launching off the “Shrek” series as head of Dreamworks Animation.
An array of Hollywood big names have also signed up for this ambitious project. Steven Spielberg again joined forces with Katzenberg. They were co-founders of Dreamworks Animation. Idris Elba, Jennifer Lopez and Sophie Turner are other hosts who you can see on Quibi.
The initial reaction to Quibi seems to be mixed. Many users praised the hyped shows such as “Survive” that starred Sophie Turner. Chance the Rapper’s show Punk’d was also met with warm responses.
However, there was criticism as well. In particular, users seem to be unsatisfied with Quibi being a mobile only application. This has prevented them from enjoying the contents with another person.
Whether Quibi can make grounds for themselves remains to be seen. Industry leader Youtube has been elevated to a global platform since Google acquired it.
Netflix’s popularity had been soaring even before the world hunkered down for self-quarantine. Now, there are estimates that up to 40% of the world’s internet users could be subscribed to Netflix.
What do you think? Do you think that there is a chance for this 1.8 billion dollar project to succeed? Will it succumb to the scale of Netflix and others? Share with us your thoughts on this issue, and follow us on Facebook for more news like this one.
Replaced!