How Internet vendors are changing the smart terminal market

Recently, Damai Technology announced its official entry into the smart TV field and launched the "hardware + content + broadband" operating model, becoming another emerging force in the field of Internet TV. With the rapid growth of the smart TV market, Internet manufacturers such as Xiaomi and LeTV are also exploring new development models to participate in market competition. In 2015, the strategic layout of Internet brands will be more perfect, and Internet brands are expected to become an important force in promoting and changing the development of China's smart terminal market.

LeTV

Targeting users is an important goal

Targeting users is LeEco's most important goal. It is expected that LeEco's TV shipments will exceed 3 million units this year, and the total number of users will reach 5 million.

LeTV is the first Internet brand to enter the smart TV market. In May 2013, it took the lead in launching a 60-inch TV. In the past two years, it has gradually laid out and improved its product system, with product layout ranging from medium-sized 40 inches to ultra-large 70 inches. With the continuous improvement of product layout and the continuous expansion of user scale, LeTV's business model has gradually become clear, and its brand influence has also expanded rapidly. In 2014, LeTV's smart TV shipments exceeded 1.6 million units, showing explosive growth, and in 2015, it fully built an "platform + content + terminal + application" ecosystem. LeTV's Internet TV strategy can be analyzed from the following three aspects:

First, upgrade the smart TV product line to seize the home smart terminal users. By the end of 2014, the number of LeTV smart TV users reached nearly 2 million. It is expected that LeTV will launch two specifications of smart TVs, 55-inch UHD and 65-inch UHD this year. While launching new products, LeTV will also upgrade the size and specifications of the existing product system. In 2015, the Chinese smart TV market will continue to grow rapidly, and the market size is expected to reach 38.22 million units, with a penetration rate of 72%. Therefore, for LeTV, targeting users is still the most important goal. It is expected that LeTV's shipments this year will exceed 3 million units, and the total number of users will reach 5 million.

Second, leveraging the widespread use of 4G, we will focus on mobile Internet terminal products. Mobile Internet has gradually become an important channel for people to receive information and entertainment in their daily lives. As the port of mobile Internet, smartphones carry more and more functions such as watching (videos), using (life entertainment), and playing (games) in addition to communication, which also makes their potential value expand rapidly. LeTV, which has platform and content advantages, is expected to launch its own brand of mobile terminal products in the second quarter of this year. We speculate that its product specifications will also be industry-leading FHD and WQHD resolution products. LeTV will continue to use the "hardware + content" charging model to greatly reduce the hardware purchase cost of users, which is expected to have a significant impact on the market price system. According to ∑intell data, the shipment scale of domestic smartphones in 2014 was 390 million units, and it is expected to increase slightly to 410 million units in 2015. If LeTV can gain 5% of the market share, it will directly increase its ecosystem by about 20 million users. Therefore, the move to develop smart phone products means that LeTV aims to become the Internet brand with the largest number of users in the two major Internet terminal markets of home and mobile smart terminals in 2015. In this way, it can better play its ecological circle advantages and realize the long-tail effect of "content + application" services.

Third, improve the layout of Internet content and highlight differentiated competitiveness. Although the functions of smart TVs are becoming more and more abundant, video content is still the most important application due to the lack of related applications and the need for more time to cultivate the market. There are many domestic video content providers, and the content is also quite homogeneous. Strengthening content layout, highlighting differentiation, and improving user stickiness will become the most important issues for Internet brands. While laying out other applications such as games and education, LeTV will continue to increase its dual investment in self-made film and television dramas and purchasing copyrights to consolidate its user stickiness.

Millet

Adjusting strategies to reverse the decline of TV

Xiaomi TV faces problems such as a single product line, lack of content and licenses, and insufficient panel resources. It plans to adjust its market strategy in 2015.

In 2014, Xiaomi mobile phones and Xiaomi TVs took two completely different development paths. Xiaomi mobile phones won the first place in the domestic smartphone market in 2014, while Xiaomi TVs had a difficult year. This was due to several factors, such as the slow pace of Xiaomi TV's launch, a single product line, a lack of content and licenses, and insufficient panel resources. The current mobile smart terminal market is facing a major turning point, while the smart TV market is facing a period of rapid development. Xiaomi has also begun to adjust its market strategy to seek breakthroughs.

Xiaomi is actively developing the smart TV ecosystem through capital means. As we all know, Xiaomi has invested in video content providers including Youku Tudou, iQiyi, and Xunlei through capital investment. On the one hand, it hopes to solve the problem of content licenses, and on the other hand, it hopes to bring added value through platform + hardware + content integration. In addition, Xiaomi has also increased its layout of applications other than video content, such as "Homework Together" in primary school education and 51Ttalk in language learning. In terms of games, in addition to Xiaomi Game Center, it also actively invests in other game companies.

Xiaomi has made extensive adjustments to its smart TV product line, focusing on the mid- and low-end markets and quickly grabbing users. In addition to content, a single product is also a major problem for Xiaomi's TV business. In 2015, Xiaomi plans to launch multiple models and make extensive adjustments to its product layout. Xiaomi has confirmed that it will launch 40-inch FHD and 55-inch UHD TVs in the first quarter of 2015, and is also actively planning 48-inch UHD and 65-inch UHD TVs. In terms of panel resources, Xiaomi will actively expand its partnership with panel suppliers. In 2015, Xiaomi plans to introduce Sharp and Samsung into the supply chain to balance supplier relationships. With the launch of Xiaomi's 40-inch FHD TV, Xiaomi will compete head-on with LeTV.

At the turning point of the smartphone market, Xiaomi's product strategy faces great challenges. In the smartphone market, the demand for replacement surpassed the demand for new products in 2015 and became the main driving force of the market. Smartphone users will have stronger requirements for product performance, specifications and experience. We expect that the opportunity for product upgrades has arrived and the mid-range market will usher in rapid growth. For Xiaomi, the Redmi series, which accounts for about 40% of its shipments, targets the low-end market, while the sales of the Xiaomi series of mobile phones, which mainly target the mid-range market, are tepid, and Xiaomi's competitiveness is gradually weakening. How to achieve the "100 million units" shipment target of Xiaomi mobile phones in 2015 is still a problem facing Lei Jun.

Damai, Alibaba, Tencent

Brand layout is becoming more and more perfect

In 2015, the strategic layout of Internet brands became more complete, and the operating model gradually matured, becoming an important force in promoting and changing the Chinese smart terminal market.

On February 4, 2015, Damai Technology officially launched its TV products. Damai Technology is a subsidiary of Dr. Peng, whose subsidiary Great Wall Broadband has about 70 million broadband users in Southwest and South China. The sales model of Damai TV is "broadband service + content + TV", emphasizing that the content is free. With content licenses, broadband services, hardware products and online channels, it has strong competitiveness in resource integration, but the situation in the later marketing promotion, hardware supply chain management and product layout still needs further observation.

Other Internet companies such as Alibaba and Tencent are also actively developing the home and mobile smart terminal markets. In 2015, Alibaba's strategy in the smart TV market was to use Tmall Mall and Alibaba's influence in the online market to cooperate with traditional whole machine brands to circle users; in terms of smart phones, it is planning to launch its own brand of smart phones. Compared with other Internet companies, Tencent's layout in smart hardware is relatively conservative. Its main strategy is still based on strategic cooperation. Through cooperation with traditional brands such as Hisense, TCL and Konka, it mainly promotes its WeChat and game applications in the home Internet.

∑intell believes that the current domestic smart terminal market is in a period of rapid development and market transformation. On the one hand, the competition model is changing from a single model to a diversified model, and on the other hand, the market demand is transitioning from being driven mainly by new demand to being driven mainly by replacement demand. In 2015, as the strategic layout of Internet brands becomes more complete and the operation model gradually matures, more and more Internet brands will join in the future, and Internet brands will become an important force in promoting and changing the development of China's smart terminal market.

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.