360 LeTV uses Coolpad to balance Xiaomi?

"We will not hinder the cooperation between Coolpad and 360. We are the second largest shareholder of Coolpad. How can we affect Coolpad's strategic and practical interests?" On July 1, when asked about the direction of the relationship between LeTV, Coolpad and 360, Feng Xing, president of LeTV Mobile, said in an interview with media including "China Business Daily".

Just three days ago, Coolpad issued an announcement stating that LeTV Mobile's subsidiary Leview Mobile HK Limited subscribed to 18% of Coolpad Group's shares, making LeTV the second largest shareholder of Coolpad.

Coolpad established a joint venture with 360 and then joined LeTV. The battle between Coolpad, Qihoo 360 and LeTV was so confusing that the outside world couldn't understand it. Interestingly, Xiaomi invested in Xunlei , which is closely related to video content, in March last year , and the two companies recently announced a joint venture into the CDN market.

Behind a series of capital moves, some industry insiders commented that 360, which was originally targeting Xiaomi and making a "comeback" in the smartphone industry, was "interfered" by LeTV. As LeTV's investment in Coolpad and Xiaomi's business gradually overlapped, the relationship between the three giant "friendly competitors" of LeTV, Qihoo 360 and Xiaomi became increasingly subtle.

Does not hinder 360's cooperation with Coolpad

LeTV, which claimed that it would not hinder the cooperation between 360 and Coolpad, announced its latest report card - the total shipments of LeTV Super Phone have exceeded 500,000 units, and the production capacity has climbed to 400,000 units in July.

However, unlike the joint venture between Coolpad and 360, we may have to wait a little longer if we want to see substantive cooperation between LeTV and Coolpad.

Feng Xing told reporters that the current negotiations with Coolpad are still at the capital operation level and have not yet been implemented in the business stage, so anything is possible.

Regarding whether LeTV will become Coolpad's largest shareholder, Feng Xing said he was not in a position to respond. Based on the official statement, LeTV is currently Coolpad's second largest shareholder.

As for the future cooperation direction between LeTV and Coolpad, Feng Xing revealed that LeTV will cooperate with Coolpad Group in all links of the entire mobile phone industry chain to complement each other's strengths. In addition, LeTV content and Coolpad hardware will also carry out comprehensive cooperation.

Feng Xing revealed to reporters that Jia Yueting may have thought of walking on two legs when he decided to make mobile phones: on the one hand, he would go the path of self-research and development, and on the other hand, he would also consider cooperation with traditional manufacturers. Coolpad is a typical representative among traditional manufacturers.

An industry insider told reporters that in addition to the mobile phone portal, LeTV, which has just entered the mobile phone field, values ​​Coolpad's inherent advantages as a traditional mobile phone manufacturer - huge production supply chain capabilities. Coolpad's R&D advantages, mature traditional manufacturing and supply chain, and channel advantages can help LeTV indirectly gain more voice in the industry chain.

Jia Yueting also said in his Weibo on June 30 that LeEco Mobile Intelligence Company has become Coolpad's second largest shareholder. "The open and closed-loop LeEco ecosystem will push Coolpad into the mobile phone ecosystem era quickly. Coolpad's deep production, research, supply, marketing and after-sales capabilities will have a strong chemical reaction with LeEco, and the whole process will be symbiotic and win-win. The open LeEco ecosystem is promoting the progress and transformation of the traditional mobile phone industry."

In addition, Coolpad's patent reserves may also become a protective umbrella for LeTV's overseas expansion. According to public information, Coolpad has more than 5,000 patents, including more than 500 overseas patents. As an old manufacturer with more than 10 years of experience in mobile phone manufacturing, Coolpad has accumulated a certain number of patents in mobile phone applications, communications, dual-SIM dual-standby, etc., and has participated in the 5G R&D team organized by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

In mid-April this year, LeTV mobile phones were released simultaneously in China and the United States, which has revealed Jia Yueting's exploration and ambition for overseas markets. Feng Xing also revealed to reporters that LeTV mobile phones will be officially sold in overseas markets this year.

The war between three "friendly competitors"

It seems that Coolpad's role is more like a weapon for 360 and LeTV to balance their rival Xiaomi, and everyone wants to hold this weapon in their own hands.

Pan Jiutang, a mobile phone and electronics industry analyst at the Huaqiang Electronic Industry Research Institute, once revealed on Weibo that the Songshan Lake production factory in Dongguan where Zhou Hongyi and Guo Deying "met and fell in love" is also a production resource that LeTV wants to rely on.

However, after being "interfered", 360 may launch a counterattack. Previously, Qiku has drastically cut the price of Dashen mobile phones. Some people think that this is to compete with Xiaomi for the thousand-yuan mobile phone market, while others interpret it as too much inventory backlog.

Pan Jiutang commented: "From the fact that Master Zhou valued and attracted many passionate and capable people from Coolpad, as well as the several projects Qihoo is developing, (360) is still willing to invest... It is understandable that they would use disgusting marketing to clear inventory and attack their old enemies, but I don't believe that Master Zhou only has these few tricks."

An insider close to Qihoo told China Business News that "it is expected that the news that Zhou Hongyi will fully control Qihoo Technology will be announced soon."

Qiku currently has about $400 million in operating funds, and has also recruited former Coolpad executives Li Wang and Zhu Fanghao, and about 1,000 people who previously joined Qiku from Coolpad hardware. In other words, Zhou Hongyi hopes to keep the decision-making power of Qiku in his own hands and minimize the influence of Coolpad and LeTV.

However, it still takes time for Qihoo smartphones to make a comeback in the already crowded mobile phone market.

At the same time, LeTV, which is already the second largest shareholder of Coolpad, stated that its investment in Coolpad will not affect the cooperation between Coolpad and 360. After all, this involves Coolpad's strategic interests.

Feng Xing, president of LeTV Mobile, divides the mobile phone industry into three major camps. The traditional manufacturing camp represented by ZTE, Huawei, and Lenovo has advantages in channels, supply chains, processing and manufacturing; the Internet marketing camp represented by Xiaomi and Meizu competes through Internet marketing or services in addition to products; and LeTV has formed an ecological mobile phone camp through "platform + content + terminal + application". For example, LeTV Mobile's strategic investment in Coolpad has made the ecological camp stronger.

Behind this, we can see that the confrontation between Xiaomi and LeTV, two Internet companies, in multiple fields such as mobile phones, televisions, and videos is becoming increasingly tense, and even a large-scale debate over "ecology" has broken out.

Judging from Xiaomi's three core products, mobile phones, TVs, and routers, LeEco and Qihoo 360 have already launched frontal attacks from different angles. The former has smart TVs and smartphones, while the latter has entered the smartphone and router fields.

Especially for Xiaomi's ecosystem, everything is centered around mobile phones, covering smart hardware, content, cloud services... and LeTV has penetrated into Xiaomi's heartland, from TVs to mobile phones to investing in Coolpad; Xiaomi has begun to build content businesses such as video and focus on smart TVs, which has actually threatened LeTV's core business.

"With the borderless Internet ecosystem, the penetration of the two is increasingly overlapping," an industry insider pointed out to reporters.

The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Will 360 and LeEco go head-to-head or join forces? Can the two and Coolpad achieve 1+1+1 greater than 3? Time will tell.

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.