Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Quibi, the shortform video streaming service designed for people to enjoy on their phones, has shuttered after less than a year of existence.
Led by veteran Hollywood executive Jeffrey Katzenberg and former HP CEO Meg Whitman, the streaming service was designed to be a revolutionary way to watch videos on the go, with shows and films specifically formatted to work in both landscape and portrait modes. With nearly $2 billion raised before Quibi even launched in April and a long line of Hollywood talent on board to provide movies and shows, Katzenberg and Whitman felt pretty good about their prospects — even if analysts and media critics questioned the duo’s strategy.
Then the United States joined the rest of the world in shutting down d…