JIMI Zhong Bo: There is only one secret to support the rapid development of screenless TVs

2016 marks the third year since the establishment of Xgimi Technology, the pioneer of screenless TVs, and also the third year since I met Xgimi’s founder Zhong Bo.

In three years, we have seen Xgimi grow from nothing to something, from being unrecognized to having a large number of fans, from one product to a series of products, from the first round of financing to 120 million in the B round, and Zhong Bo has also grown from a young and handsome boy to an entrepreneur who has experienced many hardships.

Three years passed quickly, and Xgimi's growth can be described as rapid. Zhong Bo is a low-key and straightforward person, "We don't have any shortcuts. There is only one secret that supports Xgimi's rapid development." That is to keep making better products.

From imagination to image, good products speak for themselves

I remember that in 2013, there was a TV industry seminar salon in the circle. All the attendees were industry experts. After the technical meeting, Zhong Bo finally arrived and demonstrated his first product. He patiently explained the concept of "screenless TV" to everyone present, which attracted a lot of onlookers.

"This thing is not easy to sell, has low market recognition, and its usage environments are also limited." These were the original words of a senior expert who was present at the time.

Now, besides XGIMI, JMGO, Whaley, and Haier have all launched their own projection TVs, while Xiaomi and LeTV are also secretly developing projectors. "Screenless TV" is no longer a niche product.

After three years of planning and launching products from imagination to image, XGIMI is going to move from image to imagination, once again breaking the limitations of TV usage scenarios and allowing screenless TVs to bring more fun and possibilities to users' lives. This time, XGIMI has come up with a portable projector called CC.

The XGIMI screenless TV CC uses a white metal shell with a sliding cover of the same color, and is equipped with a handbag made of selected top-grain cowhide, so that users can easily pick it up and carry it. The sliding cover design is also unique. When the sliding cover slides down, CC is a projector, but when the sliding cover slides up to cover the lens, the lower speaker will be exposed, turning it into a BOX BAG.

As a portable product, CC is equipped with a 20,000 mAh large-capacity battery, which can last for eight hours on a single charge and has a 16GB flash memory capacity. At the same time, CC also continues the brand genes of the XGIMI screenless TV with a large screen of over 6 meters wide and support for 3D functions, 350ANSI Lumens brightness, square pixel architecture and master-tuned images, achieving excellent color performance. The lens uses Corning Gorilla Glass and is equipped with JBL 40mm large-caliber dual speaker units and bass passive diaphragms. In terms of configuration, CC uses a 64-bit processor, supports 4K hard decoding, has a built-in Android operating system and a GMUI system that is updated once a week. CC is priced at 2,799 yuan and will be available for sale starting November 11.

Projectors compete in the TV market, not afraid of Xiaomi and LeTV

In recent years, more and more micro-projection products have been combined with intelligence, and are beginning to be envisioned to gradually replace the status and role of traditional TVs in users' living rooms.

Of course, it all didn't go smoothly at first, especially due to cost considerations. It was difficult for projection products to achieve display performance parameters similar to those of LCD TVs at a price similar to that of ordinary TVs. For example, today's 4K LCD TVs may be priced at less than 2,000 yuan, and smart projectors on the market are not only often more expensive, but also have outdated resolutions such as 720P. Coupled with the limitations of usage scenarios caused by the generally low brightness of projections, it is inevitable that smart projectors are labeled as niche.

However, the evolution of traditional TVs is often slow, while screenless TVs have greater room for upward development. With the continuous development of LED light sources, the maturity of products continues to rise, and now they have become popular in the market. More and more emerging manufacturers such as JMGO and XGIMI choose to enter the market with LED micro projectors, focusing on intelligence and home furnishing. Projectors are also transforming from the commercial market to the civilian market.

At present, the domestic smart projector market presents a flourishing situation, with big brands competing for the best and small brands blooming everywhere. However, image quality and poor light performance are the major flaws of micro-projection products. Although the existing smart micro-projectors have greatly improved in brightness, they still cannot get rid of the poor light performance. If users want to watch TV during the day, they need to close the doors and windows, draw the curtains, and create a dark projection environment. All these affect the user experience of the product.

At present, the only factors that enable micro-projection products to defeat traditional TVs are the flexible size change and portability.

Although the emerging product of smart projector has broad development prospects, it is difficult to completely replace the household demand of TV in the short term. There are still many technologies to be improved in smart micro-projection, such as brightness, control, resolution, etc. Before Xiaomi, LeTV and other companies that are good at price war disrupt the market, there is not much time left for micro-projection manufacturers to seize the market.

But the technology geek Zhong Bo has his own persistence and vision in his heart. "The reason why XGIMI can get to where it is today is not due to financing or deception, but the original intention all along - to make good products." Regarding future development, Zhong Bo promised that XGIMI will insist on not brushing orders, not cheating, and not doing TO VC business, and will always put making good products first.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.