October 2021
Case
HBS Case Collection

(180) Days of Quibi

Format:Print
| Language:English
| Pages:5

Abstract

Mobile streaming app Quibi was ready to take the entertainment world by storm at its April 2020 launch. Backed by $1.75 billion, influential investors from Hollywood to Wall Street eagerly anticipated early success for this brainchild of Meg Whitman, former CEO of Hewlett Packard Enterprise, and Jeffrey Katzenberg, former chairperson of Walt Disney Studios and co-founder of DreamWorks Pictures. Quibi’s value proposition was to fill a ‘white space’ through seven to ten minute dramas, on a platform that was technologically sophisticated for users and extremely copyright friendly for content creators. Six months later, a disappointing lack of demand cornered Quibi into closing shop. Was it poor timing, or inherent business model viability? This case prompts discussion on the complete strategy landscape, from defining the opportunity set and value potential to understanding the ultimate outcome.