Can LeEco’s smartphone ecosystem continue to differentiate itself?

Recently, a high-definition spy photo of LeTV's super phone was completely exposed, and the news about LeTV's mobile phone has once again become the focus of heated discussion in the Internet industry. From the initial low-key entry, to the later avoidance of talking about it, to today's active response, LeTV's layout in the mobile phone field can be described as cautious. As an ecological company oriented from content to hardware, in terms of LeTV's consistent style, the significance of entering the mobile phone field for LeTV's ecological construction may be far less simple than everyone imagines.

Only make hardware products that can "tell stories"

Since its transformation began in 2011, the outside world has always described LeTV as a startup company that can tell stories.

The evaluation of "telling stories" is actually mixed. First of all, LeTV is indeed an online video service provider with enough "content" and "stories". In the overall situation where the video website industry is collectively facing long-term losses, LeTV is the only one that has continued to maintain profitability by relying on copyright accumulation.

Secondly, LeEco is indeed a vertical industry chain company that can "tell stories". In addition to the original business LeTV.com, LeEco Group has successively established LeTV Zhixin, LeTV Pictures, Wangjiu.com, LeTV Holdings, LeTV Investment Management and other companies; and in each branch, LeTV Super TV, LeTV Box, Le Xiaobao, LeTV Bluetooth Headset, LeTV Mall, LeTV Super Car and other products and projects have been born.

In the transformation from soft to hard, LeTV has continued the characteristic of "telling stories". Take Super TV as an example. As a product in the early stage of the smart TV industry, other manufacturers focus more on the intelligence of TV products, while Super TV makes it not only smart enough, but also "content". Of course, the importance of content to smart TV products has been fully demonstrated by Xiaomi's move of spending 1 billion US dollars on content construction last year.

In addition to the Super TV, Le Xiaobao, which is truly a "storyteller", the LeTV super car project, and even the upcoming LeTV super phone, are all continuing to stamp LeTV's ecological seal of "no content, no hardware; no ecology, no super".

In the mobile phone 3.0 era that Jia Yueting talked about, the super mobile phone that LeTV has devoted itself to this time will not only include smart hardware and LeTV UI, but will also surely launch the so-called ecological content that can be fundamentally distinguished from other brands of mobile phones. This part called "ecological chain" construction may be the real purpose of LeTV's involvement in the mobile phone field.

Ecology theory continues brand differentiation

The launch of LeTV Super TV is undoubtedly the beginning of its brand differentiation. The product feature of "twice the performance, half the price" has made LeTV different from traditional TV manufacturers and other Internet companies in the field of smart TVs, and the birth of LeTV Eco-phone may also continue this style.

In the LeEco mobile phone ecosystem closed-door meeting just held, Jia Yueting clearly stated that LeEco positioned 2015 as the "mobile ecosystem year". The super phone product has not yet been released, but its position has been consolidated. From LeEco's expectations for the super phone, it is not difficult to see the important position of the super phone in the LeEco ecosystem chain.

If the launch of Super TV is to pave the way for a large-screen Internet ecosystem based on the family unit, then the research and development of Super Phone is based on family members. By building a mobile Internet ecosystem, the "platform + content + terminal + application" in the LeTV ecosystem will be completely formed into an open closed loop, thereby ensuring the sustainable development of the ecology in each link.

In fact, whether in LeEco's so-called ecosystem or in other companies' smart home construction, mobile smart terminal devices represented by mobile phones will play a decisive "key" role. Unlike Xiaomi, which opened the door to the smart home industry with Xiaomi mobile phones, LeEco may close the basic chain of its ecological industry chain with super phones. Of course, this does not rule out that LeEco will continue to connect other terminal ecosystems through super phones in the future.

It was the inevitability and importance of the birth of LeTV Superphone that prompted Jia Yueting to announce three "musts" regarding the superphone: 1. It must be a unique luxury product and an ultimate user experience; 2. It must not just be a mobile phone, but a mobile Internet ecosystem; 3. It must create a new model to create higher user value and promote industry progress.

The three "musts" provide guidance and expectations for the significance of super phones from the perspectives of users, enterprises, and industries. Compared with other mobile phone manufacturers who only hope to achieve profit through the sales of mobile phone hardware, this "calculation" is obviously much smarter. According to the usual law that output is proportional to input, and effort is proportional to gain, once LeEco's ecological construction is successful, it will definitely be a doubled success.

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.