Perhaps nobody could have foreseen the shadow cast by coronavirus as Quibi, a mobile-only, short-form video service, prepares for its launch next month.

Abbreviated from "Quick Bites", the high-profile app specializes in short videos on phones. Targeted at users between 25 and 35 years old, it's scheduled to be released on April 6. Its content will include three categories: movies in chapters (longer, scripted stories broken into chapters that are between seven and 10 minutes long), unscripted shows and daily hits of news/entertainment/inspiration.

Meg Whitman, CEO of the company branded it as "on-the-go viewing, from seven in the morning to seven at night," during promotion events a few months ago.

However, concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic have stuck many of its potential subscribers inside of their home – with easy access to televisions and computers. They are not on-the-go anymore.

Jeffrey Katzenberg, Quibi's founder, told CNN Business that Quibi could benefit from that, "we probably have more in between moments now than we ever had before because we're all locked in our homes."

Even so, production on its daily hits content, which is currently dubbed "Daily Essentials", has been suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic. For instance, the 60 Minutes-inspired 60 in 6 is on hold after an outbreak inside CBS News.

'We're ready to go.'

Quibi told The Hollywood Reporter that producers are finding creative ways to film despite the coronavirus. Tim Kash, who will host music show, has moved a scaled-down set into his garage and Jimmy Mondal, the face of gaming show "Speedrun" is shooting from his living room, according to the report.

In its two years of preparation, Quibi has not only raised over two billion U.S. dollars investment from powerful studios but also signed deals with influential names in Hollywood. Quick clips with Hollywood quality content are portrayed as its biggest advantage.

Anthony and Joe Russo, directors for blockbuster "Avengers: Endgame", model and online celebrity Kendall Jenner as well as other big names like Zac Efron, Idris Elba, Kristen Bell and Chrissy Teigen all have original Quibi series in the works.

Quibi will go live with 50 different series when it launches on April 6. For the whole year, it plans to release 8,500 episodes of 175 shows. The service will cost 4.99 U.S. dollars per month with ads or 7.99 U.S. dollars without ads. 

"We have the right content to launch, the technology is ready, our messaging has been out in the market. We're ready to go," Whitman insisted during a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter.

'On April 7th, the day after we launch, it's all about the data'

As a Hollywood super-producer, Jeffrey Katzenberg has worked in the world's biggest film base for over four decades. He is the very man behind the hit films of "The Lion King", "Kung Fu Panda" and "Beauty and the Beast."His friend and business partner for 35 years, Meg Whitman, former CEO of eBay and HP, has been in tech for more than two decades.

The combination of the two may well explain why Quibi can attract so many funds from big studios like Sony Pictures, ViacomCBS, and Warner Media in a short time. The two billion U.S. dollars investment has made Quibi one of the most expensive video apps in the world. With firm confidence in their coming app, Whitman once took the spotlight as saying "On April 7th, the day after we launch, it's all about the data.”

However, it may be still too early to predict how viewers will react.

After all, most videos currently on YouTube are longer than 10 minutes and there seems no evidence to show they are losing attraction among the users. And whether audiences would like to dip into their pockets for Quibi videos remains unknown as currently they can watch plenty of free videos online.