The heavily advertised, heavily funded short-format mobile streaming service Quibi ($PRIVATE:QUIBI) finally launched last week to lukewarm results, as app ratings fell and social media engagement dwindled.

According to an interview with CEO Meg Whitman, more than 1.7 million people have downloaded Quibi since its debut, “significantly exceeding” the company’s expectations. But our data calls this number into question.

Quibi’s app store ratings count rose from 101 on its first day to 1,990 today. And while that’s a significant increase, if it’s true that 1.7 million people downloaded Quibi, that would mean that less than one percent of those people bothered to rate it. 

The company’s social media following doesn’t reflect the purported 1.7 million downloaders either. Since launch, Quibi’s Twitter following has only grown 32%, now at 42,600 followers.

Despite the nearly $2 billion in funding, highly produced content, mega marketing campaign, and host of celebrity partners, things aren’t looking good for Quibi. Yesterday, Variety reported that Quibi “is not moving ahead” with a planned drama series about Snapchat’s founder.

Quibi’s untimely mid-pandemic launch date could be to blame for the lack of success. Or, equally likely, people aren't interested in a new streaming service that doesn’t give you the option to watch its shows on a TV. The company now claims to be working on TV screen-sharing functionality, but that might not be enough for a late-comer in the streaming game.

About the Data:

Thinknum tracks companies using the information they post online - jobs, social and web traffic, product sales and app ratings - and creates data sets that measure factors like hiring, revenue and foot traffic. Data sets may not be fully comprehensive (they only account for what is available on the web), but they can be used to gauge performance factors like staffing and sales. 

Further Reading: 

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