[ad_1]
“Competition for time and consumer engagement continues to be vibrant. . . we’re still pretty small relative to total screen time, ”Netflix said Tuesday.
Quibi proved his point of view in the stiff broadcast competition a day later. The “quick snacks” mobile video service said it would shut down after just six months. Its percentage of time in front of the screen was small next to that of Netflix: the audience was much smaller than expected since users did not renew their initially free subscriptions.
The concept had sounded promising and the service seemed to have identified a new niche. Short videos like TikTok, but instead of user-generated content, quality shows and series like Netflix would be offered, and on all smartphones, through an app that featured a sleek portrait-view innovation.
Daily bulletin
#techFT brings you news, commentary and analysis on the big companies, technologies and issues that shape this faster movement of industries from specialists around the world. Click here to get #techFT in your inbox.
But despite paying for high-quality content, there were no big hits to get users addicted. The publicity suffered, critics questioned why the service was not available on smart TVs early on, and to top it all, a patent lawsuit was filed against it for the vertical-view video option.
Its leaders – Disney veteran Jeffrey Katzenberg and former HP chief Meg Whitman – were reported to have differences, but, in a blog post Wednesday, they said Quibi had failed for one of two reasons, or perhaps a combination of both. :
“Because the idea itself wasn’t strong enough to justify an independent streaming service or because of our time.”
By time, they were referring to the pandemic, with travel restrictions, meaning there were few travelers who wanted quick access to short videos. And yet many people were at home wanting to be entertained.
In May, Katzenberg attributed everything that was wrong to the coronavirus. The fact that he is now saying that the idea may not have stood the test is an admission that a combination of the best in technology and Hollywood is no guarantee of success, in an industry and an era where hits are viral.
The Internet of (five) things
1. AT&T says the broadcast is a big box office
After the bad news from Netflix and Quibi, HBO Max turned out to be a bright spot in AT & T’s earnings today. HBO’s total subscribers, including the Max platform, rose to 38 million in the quarter and to 57 million worldwide. The number of HBO customers who activated the new streaming service doubled to 8 million in the quarter.
2. Citations from the heads of Facebook and Twitter
A United States Senate committee voted to issue subpoenas to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter boss Jack Dorsey to testify about why their platforms restricted access to a New York Post article about the son. of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden. We also have an analysis of Tik Tok, with the app facing its first major test of moderation: preventing its platform from being poisoned by politics.
3. Tesla’s record quarter
The electric carmaker posted a fifth consecutive quarterly profit in the three months through the end of September as it rebounded from a coronavirus-induced shutdown in March and reiterated its goal of delivering a record 500,000 cars in 2020. Lex says that Elon Musk is proving the naysayers wrong with third-quarter operating profit of $ 809 million that tripled last year’s figure.
4. McAfee falls on his debut
Shares in the cybersecurity company fell 7 percent on its commercial debut, marking a disappointing return to public markets after a decade in private hands. At the initial public offering price of $ 20, McAfee had achieved a market capitalization of approximately $ 8.6 billion.
5. Airbnb rents out Jony Ive
Apple’s former chief designer will work with the rental home site to redesign its systems and create new products as it prepares to go public later this year. Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky said he had started a multi-year “special collaboration” with Sir Jonathan’s design company, LoveFrom.
Forwarded from Sifted: European Start-up Week
The British Business Bank released a new report showing that minority-origin business owners continue to earn less money than white entrepreneurs, even though they often have higher qualifications. The disparities are more pronounced for women entrepreneurs of minority origin. Meanwhile, a group of venture capitalists and startup founders have called on the business sector to use the term BAME more critically when looking at diversity-related issues and to recognize that black entrepreneurs face different challenges from Asian entrepreneurs. , for example.
In other news, the Spanish venture capital firm Samaipata is raising a new fund of 100 million euros to invest in new companies in Europe, while the digital bank Monzo launched its new Premium accounts of 15 pounds per month, which offer to users travel and phone insurance and a glitzy metal card (each costing £ 50 to produce).
Sifted also took a look at the Italian tech sector, which is finally ready to take off, and posed a big question about the burgeoning vertical farming startups in Europe: can they ever grow more than just herbs and leaves and really revolutionize agriculture?
Tech Tools – Huawei Mate 40 Pro
© AP
Huawei’s limited access to Android due to sanctions is hurting its smartphones, but it still leads Samsung in global market share. Ben Wood, head of research at CCS Insight, says outside of China “there is a real risk that the Huawei Mate 40 family of devices will be the company’s ‘last hurray’ on smartphones” as it struggles with supplies. components and software. Released today, the Mate 40 Pro (above) marks the debut of Huawei’s new flagship 5nm Kirin 9000 chipset and includes 6.76-inch curved OLED displays and 50W wireless charging, says The Verge. The phone has an exceptional four-lens camera, developed in conjunction with Leica, Engadget says, but there are “substantial gaps in the list of applications that most people in the West consider essential.”
