First look at Quibi – the video streaming app with a twist
Quibi gives us the first look at it’s streaming app set to release in April.
Quibi, short for “Quick Bites”, is the newest contender hoping to break into the video streaming world.
Billionaires, tech executive Meg Whitman & Hollywood producer Jeffrey Katzenberg secured over $1 billion in investments to put this idea to action.
Only offering videos less than ten minutes, Quibi hopes to standout over some of the largest companies not only in video streaming, but the world: Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, Disney and Apple. With HBO Max and NBCUniversal set to join the party later this year.
The app is only available for mobile and includes a featured called Turnstyle “a viewing experience optimized for you… no matter how you hold your phone”, which marketing aside, means it will crop the video if you want to watch it portrait.
It will offer two models, much like Hulu with an optional ad tier:
- $8 a month
- $5 a month with ads
Quibi will experiment to see what work with customers
“We’ll see what the consumers want, and we’ll follow their lead.”
Meg Whitman, CEO
This is certainly a unique idea that suits the current market for snappy, to the point, short videos. Ideal for the commute to work (with offline mode), without diving into an hour long Netflix episode. However, the company need to make sure they put that $1 billion to go use, securing quality content that ready to watch on day one, in the hope that user will get hooked to shows beyond their free trial and not just continue to go where everyone’s gone for similar short-form videos for fifteen year, YouTube ($5-$8 a month less than Quibi).
Head to Quibi to see some of the content they’ve got lined up. The app is available to pre-order in the US on iOS and Android today, launching April 6th.