The big picture: Short-form video streaming platform Quibi racked up more than 300,000 installs in its first day on the market across the US and Canada according to app analytics platform Sensor Tower. Launch conditions certainly weren't ideal but the company seems to be content with making the best of the current situation.
For comparison, Disney+ saw approximately four million mobile installs during its first day of availability en route to a total of 10 million subscribers signing up. HBO Now had a smaller launch day with only 45,000 installs but neither Disney+ nor HBO Now represents an apples to apples comparison.
Disney+ was available across a wide range of platforms when it launched last November including mobile, set-top boxes, smart TVs, game consoles and on the web. Similarly, HBO's content was already widely available before the launch of HBO Now. It also arrived a full five years ago at a time when streaming looked a bit different than it does today.
Quibi, meanwhile, could be viewed as a victim of circumstance. The mobile-only platform was designed with the on-the-go user in mind. Given the shelter in place restrictions brought about by Covid-19, the climate is really the exact opposite of what Quibi's creators expected.
Also factoring into the equation is Quibi's 90-day free trial and the fact that select T-Mobile customers are getting one year of free access. For a more accurate picture of Quibi's success, we will need to at least wait until after the three-month trial period to see how many users convert to paying subscribers.