Jeffrey Katzenberg blames the coronavirus for Kuibi’s struggle – variety

When the mobile, short-form content application Quiby was launched in April, co-founder Jeffrey Katzenberg certainly did not expect to be exposed to the global virus outbreak. In an interview with the New York Times, Katzenberg blamed all of Quebec’s introductory struggles on Kobid-19.

“I blame the coronavirus for everything that went wrong. “Everything,” he said.

Two weeks after the app was launched, Quibi reported that it had 2.7 million downloads. The New York Times article published on Monday said the app could now have 2.9 million subscribers, although Quibi would say the actual number is 3.5 million and the app has 1.3 million active users. Prior to the launch, the company had predicted that it would have a million downloads by the end of its first year and would earn $ 250 million.

“What we wanted was going out of the icebergs and the introduction of people? The answer is no. What we wanted is not reliable. It’s not close to what we wanted, ”Katzenberg said.

According to the New York Times, out of the top 50 downloadable free iPhone apps a week after the launch of Quibi, it is now ranked 125th.

However, the co-founder said that despite the low number of downloads, the company is making enough money, and there is no regret in not delaying the launch date.

“If we had known on March 1, what we had to call, what we know today, you would have said it is not a good idea. The answer is that it is regrettable, but we are making enough gold out of the straw here which I do not regret, ”he said.

Katzenberg imagined that only mobile, “quick bite” content would be suitable for “occasional” moments, such as a subway ride or waiting in line. He admits that people will rarely think of seeing Quibi because people in the neighborhood are stuck in shelters.

“I hope there will be many intermediate moments when I take refuge in the place of my faith. There are still those moments, but it’s not the same. It’s uncoordinated, ”he said.

Although it has been around for a long time and is more of a social network, the Textock app has exploded with popularity among young people. Katzenberg gave his opinion about the digital competitor.

“It’s like comparing an apple to a submarine. I don’t know what people expect from us. What does Netflix look like 30 days after launch? He said. “I’m happy to talk to an organization that has one billion users and has been doing great work for the last six weeks, but what does that have to do with me?”