Sensor Tower: Quibi had more than 300,000 downloads on its launch day; heavily promoted in Apple's App Store, it reached #3 but just #29 on Google Play
Quibi, the oddly-named mobile streaming service founded by Jeffrey Katzenberg, was downloaded over 300,000 times on launch day …
TechCrunchSarah Perez
Context & Ripple Effects
Quibi's launch-day numbers land one day after the April 6 debut that Katzenberg discussed ahead of launch as a bet on mobile-only, licensed short-form video backed by a reported $1B raise on top of an earlier $1B. The split Sensor Tower measured — #3 on Apple's App Store versus #29 on Google Play — shows the launch was carried by heavy App Store featuring rather than organic demand across both platforms.
The week that followed sharpened the question: Whitman cited 1.7M downloads in the first week and accelerated TV-casting plans as lockdown behavior shifted, while later Sensor Tower data showed only ~8% of April's ~910K trial signups converted to paid. Launch-day downloads, in other words, were the strongest number Quibi would post.
First-order effects
Quibi's launch-day total of 300K+ downloads, with a #3 rank on Apple's App Store against #29 on Google Play, confirms Apple's featuring — not Google Play visibility — drove its initial install spike.
Second-order effects
The weak conversion that followed (only ~72K of ~910K trial users paying) forced Katzenberg and Whitman onto defense: execs lowered first-year projections from 7M users and $250M in subscriber revenue, and Whitman pivoted the product toward TV casting to escape the mobile-only format.
Rival launches recalibrated against the benchmark — NBCU's Peacock drew ~1.5M downloads in its first six days, 25% more than Quibi's launch window, making Quibi the cautionary baseline in the streaming land-grab.
Third-order effects
If the pattern holds, streaming-service valuations will be judged on trial-to-paid conversion rather than launch-day download charts — a metric where Quibi's ~8% rate exposed how far App Store promotion can inflate the top of the funnel without building a subscriber base.
A mobile-only distribution thesis, built on the assumption that premium short-form belongs on phones, gives way to platform-agnostic delivery as even Quibi's own leadership accelerated TV-casting within a week of launch.
The trend: The streaming wars are shifting from launch-download spectacle to paid-conversion economics, with Quibi as the first high-profile test of whether App Store featuring can substitute for durable demand.
From everything I've read, if they spent a *fraction* of that money giving grants to creative YouTubers who simply had to stick a Quibi logo on their videos, it would've been a better product. https://twitter.com/...
The short-video platform Quibi is courting the likes of Jennifer Lopez, LeBron James, Chance the Rapper, Idris Elba, Chrissy Teigen, Steven Spielberg and Bill Murray. But will it be the next digital thing or a flop? https://www.nytimes.com/...
Yes, Quibi is truly a waste of $1.75 BILLION. Here's my hands-on/takedown/cathartic vent https://www.engadget.com/... The big takeaway: Nobody needs mobile only video. Please stop.
I wish Quibi would stop sending emails about its service. Can't airplay it to TV. While iPhone 11 Pro Max is a nice screen for mobile, doesn't make sense to make video service mobile exclusive. https://twitter.com/...
Quibi has launched, but I'm sorry to report that it does not service my current lifestyle need to find high-quality mobile phone entertainment that I can consume during the six-second commute from my home to my office.
#Quibi just launched, let's see if they can land enough users to validate the $1.75B valuation - two sub options $4.99/mo w/ ads $7.99/mo no ads Netflix's trades at a 6.2x ttm revenue multiple ... so Quibi needs ~44M subscribers after the 90 day free trial https://twitter.com/...
Just sampled Quibi offerings. Well-made and engaging stuff. Seems smart to bet on increasingly short attention spans and to not bet against Katzenberg. It remains to be seen if the financials can be made to work and how entering the marketplace duruing coronavirus impacts things.…
I have been watching Quibi shows for approximately two and one half Quibis and so far it's ... weird The rest of the world is like “we're shooting in our homes on our webcams, it's so intimate and human!” and Quibi is like HERE'S SIX MINUTES OF PUNK'D THAT COST A BILLION DOLLARS
What's astounding to me is how far Quibi is going to stay mobile. There's NO AirPlay mirroring support, and certainly no Chromecast. My wife and I had to crowd around our phone to watch some of the shows, while our 55" OLED sat in front of us idle.
Why would you subscribe to Quibi when there's a wealth of content on services you already have? When YouTube has basically become a network filled with infinite amounts of content? So many questions
Quibi's app is slick but the content feels slapdash. Its success will simply be a test of how many people forget to cancel their 90-day free trials. https://twitter.com/...
Quibi stands for “quick bites” and #TheNow is the show I'm in. Season 1 was directed by the Farrelly Brothers & stars @dhlovelife Dave Franco, Bill Murray, @OsheaJacksonJr, @JimmyTatro. I play a tow truck driver w/purple hair. Download Quibi app here: https://apps.apple.com/... h…
I've been using Quibi for a couple days. https://www.theverge.com/... I'm no entertainment reviewer, so I focused on the app itself. In short, it works as promised. Turnstyle is a clever trick — though the creative use cases for it aren't really in any of the launch shows yet. ht…
Incredibly excited to launch @Quibi into the world at midnight tonight! It's free for 90 days, so you've got nothing to lose. Check us out. “Two Veteran C.E.O.s Risk $1.8 Billion on a Streaming App. In a Pandemic. https://www.nytimes.com/...