Domestic color TV: Solving the face problem but also need a strong chip

"Without our own chips, we are not qualified to define our own products. In other words, it is difficult to get rid of product homogeneity and we can only follow, and thus cannot be at the forefront of the industry," an internal email from Hisense Group Chairman Zhou Houqian was recently leaked, which emphasized the importance of self-developed chips for the color TV industry.

After more than a decade of development, my country's color TV industry has gradually gotten rid of the era of "losing face", but in the future, if it wants to truly compete with Japanese and Korean manufacturers, it still needs a strong Chinese "core". As Zhou Houjian said, only by achieving technological independence can we get rid of the shackles of homogeneity and have the capital to compete with foreign countries.

It is undeniable that chips have become the core technology for the development of Internet hardware. Whether it is the TV industry or the mobile phone industry, without its own chip design capabilities, companies can only become simple assembly lines, producing common products that look the same to everyone. The disadvantages of having no core have already been highlighted in the mobile phone industry. For example, the Xiaomi 5, which has not been released for a long time, is precisely because it cannot get the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor that has been delayed. Huawei's Mate series uses its own HiSilicon Kirin, which has mastered the initiative of core technology and will be very smooth in product research and development, design and promotion. In addition, from Apple to Samsung, outstanding companies design their own chips and define their own products from the source.

In contrast, in my country's color TV industry, major terminal manufacturers have long been labeled as TV "OEMs" because they do not master core technologies such as panel manufacturing and chip design. If domestic manufacturers want to take off this hat and truly form a "Three Kingdoms" situation with Japanese and Korean manufacturers, they still have a long way to go.

The good news is that my country's TV manufacturing industry is moving towards "technology". For example, on the issue of "face", public data shows that this year alone, my country has put into operation a number of high-generation LCD panel production lines, including the Nanjing 8.5-generation line of China Electronics Panda, the Chongqing 8.5-generation line of BOE, and the first 55-inch panel of the second 8.5-generation line of Huaxing Optoelectronics in Shenzhen.

Similarly, domestic manufacturers have also begun to make breakthroughs in chip research and development. Today, Hisense Group announced that its smart TV equipped with the self-developed SOC-level picture quality chip Hi-View Pro has officially been launched. This is another breakthrough for Hisense after it released China's first self-developed color TV chip in 2005, ending the problem of 70 million Chinese color TVs without Chinese "chips".

Industry insiders analyzed that the configuration of high-end TVs consists of a main chip + a TCOM chip. With the popularity of 4K and 8K sources and the need to play and analyze video streaming media, large screens require image quality chips. The three sets of chips are interdependent and run simultaneously, which will greatly improve computing performance. As a Chinese company, Hisense is the first to enter the "three-chip" era, and the cost of Hisense's own chips is much lower than similar foreign products.

According to Hisense, Hi-View Pro is expected to be mass-produced in 1 million pieces in the first year and will be open to friendly companies. In the future, it will also be used in professional fields such as medical treatment, graphics, and film surveillance.

Zhou Houjian requested in an internal letter that "the development and use of chips must be viewed and acted from the perspective of Hisense's survival. 1. Companies at the forefront of the world all have their own chips. In other words, this is the consensus of leading companies - they must have their own chips. 2. Without their own chips, they are not qualified to define their own products. In other words, it is difficult to get rid of product homogeneity, and they can only follow, and thus cannot be at the forefront of the industry. 3. Judging from Hisense's development stage, embodying differentiation is an effective way for us to get rid of "following". But if we don't have our own chips, our products and second-rate manufacturers cannot get rid of homogeneous competition. In other words, we will always be a second-rate manufacturer."

In the past few decades, my country's TV industry has experienced the development of products and technologies from scratch, and has gradually entered the international market, fought against international companies, and cultivated a large number of outstanding entrepreneurs and technicians. However, it must be admitted that domestic TV manufacturers have a single source of panels and chips, and it is difficult for each company to find differentiated development. In the future, only by not being restricted by others in technology and continuously optimizing software can the domestic TV manufacturing industry become truly strong.

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.