Prelaunch, Quibi predicted their end of year subscribers at 7.4 million paying users. They are currently on track for under 2 million.

In another disappointing week for Quibi, end of year target numbers are not looking promising, with only 27% paying subscribers of its initial prediction, expected by the end of 2020.

Quibi launched to the public April 6th, with a very generous three-month free trial. Despite none of these trials expiring, numbers are not looking good for Quibi. With streaming platforms such as TikTok and Netflix currently doing better than every, founder Jeffrey Katzenberg previously blamed low numbers on the COVID-19 pandemic, saying “I attribute everything that has gone wrong to coronavirus. Everything.” With lockdown measures easing, perhaps numbers will increase. With many three month free trials due to expire in July, we may see a clearer number of paying users at this point.

The ’10-minute of less’ video-app raised approximately $1.75 billion to funnel into original programming from top stars and producers, such as Jennifer Lopez, LeBron James, Idris Elba, Steven Spielberg and Chrissy Teigen. These names are renowned for producing high quality film and TV, but not naturally suited to short-form content. Many believe the right move from Quibi would be to work with big names in the short-form video field, such as YouTubers, TikTokers and online influencers with already huge audiences.

In a Twitter thread, Emily Nussbaum from The New Yorker asked “How would you fix Quibi?” Blake Robbins suggests putting massive YouTubers David Dobrik and MrBeast on the platform. Reed Duchscher whose company represents MrBeast replied “We tried, they said no”.

If true, this could be a critical error and an ignorant view of online creators’ potential, from the former head of Walt Disney Studios and founder of DreamWorks.

By Q3 2020, Quibi are on track for spending $1 billion of their $1.75bn raised. Advertisers such as PepsiCo, Taco Bell, Anheuser-Busch InBev and Walmart are attempting to renegotiate their multimillion-dollar ad commitments made prelaunch.

Quibi recently added support for Chromecast and AirPlay, in a shift away from its original ‘mobile-only’ plan. Pay for senior execs has recently taken a 10% cut.