Was Quibi ahead of its time? Quibi founder Jeffrey Katzenberg ultimately blamed the coronavirus pandemic for the short-form video app's failure, but that's probably premature. It might have been. New app store data shows that the idea popularized by Quibi — cutting up original programming into short clips to provide quick entertainment — is now making a comeback. In the first quarter of 2024, 66 short-form drama apps, including ReelShort and DramaBox, generated his record $146 million in global consumer spending.
This represents an increase of more than 8,000% from $1.8 million in Q1 2023, when there were just 21 apps available, according to data from app intelligence firm Appfigures. Since then, 45 more apps have joined the market, with total consumer spending of approximately $245 million and approximately 121 million downloads.
In March 2024 alone, consumers spent $65 million on short-form drama apps, an increase of 10,500% from $619,000 in March 2023.
According to data from Appfigures, revenue growth appears to have started accelerating in the fall of 2023, with a significant increase in revenue from February to March of this year, with global revenue increasing 56% from $42 million to $65.7 million. reached the dollar. Of course, revenue growth has something to do with the increased number of apps available, but also marketing, advertising spend, and consumer interest.
The top grossing apps, ReelShort (No. 1) and DramaBox (No. 2), generated $52 million and $35 million, respectively, in Q1 2024. This represents approximately 37% and 24% of the revenue generated by the top 10 apps, respectively.
The third-ranked app, ShortTV, generated $17 million in worldwide revenue in the first quarter, representing 12% of the total.
What's interesting about these apps, compared to Quibi's previous attempts to carve a niche in this space, is the quality of the content. I mean, it's much, much worse than Quibi. And Quibi hasn't always been great. As TechCrunch wrote when describing ReelShort last year, the stories in the app “feel like excerpts from a low-quality soap or a mobile storytelling game come to life.”
Despite the terrible acting and writing, the app seems to be gaining some audience.
The US is by far the leader among the top markets in this cohort, both in terms of installs and revenue. But overall, the graphs differ in terms of which countries are downloading content or paying for content.
Indonesia, India, the Philippines, and Brazil are the top markets after the US in terms of installs, while the UK, Australia, Canada, and the Philippines are ahead of the US in terms of revenue.
In Q1 2024, short-form drama apps were installed nearly 37 million times, an increase of 992% from 3.4 million installs in Q1 2023. In terms of downloads, ReelShort and ShortTV were the top two apps, with the former accounting for 37% of installs or 13.3 million. The latter has 10 million installs, or 27%. DramaBox, which ranked second in consumer spending, ranked third in installs with 7 million downloads (19%).
Image credit: Appfigures
Reflecting broader app store trends, the majority of revenue (63%) is generated on iOS, with the majority of downloads (67%) on Android.
Although this market is growing, these apps don't have the same appeal as their closest competitors, short-form and streaming video. The short drama app's share was 6.7% of the three categories combined, up from 0.15% a year ago. However, the broader video app market brings in more revenue.
For example, the top 10 apps across the three categories combined, including apps like TikTok and Disney+, earned $1.8 billion in the first quarter.
Image credit: Appfigures