The next stop for telecom operators: building Internet TV?

At present, the composition of the color TV market is no longer limited to the "hardware" level. The emergence of smart TVs, 4K TVs, and Internet TVs has completely overturned consumers' perception of traditional TVs. The dramatic changes in the domestic color TV industry have just begun.

If Internet companies such as LeEco, Xiaomi, and Alibaba are the driving force behind this dramatic change by entering the TV industry, who will be the next entrant? Where will the telecom operators, who are gaining momentum in the OTT industry, lead the industry by entering the TV terminal market?

It’s the right time for operators to cross over to TV terminals

According to data from CITIC Securities, China Business News, and China Market Research, by the end of 2014, China's mainstream TV manufacturers had created a total of 31.1 million smart TV users. At present, the penetration rate of smart TVs in China has exceeded 20%, which shows that the future prospects of the smart TV industry are very broad.

Faced with such a large market pie, operators who are already deeply involved in the Internet TV industry cannot sit idly by. For them, Internet TV has several advantages that other manufacturers cannot match.

First, operators already have a large user base, and these users are Internet users themselves, so they are more likely to accept the form of Internet TV. Secondly, operators can control traffic operating costs, saving the huge expenses of renting computer rooms and buying broadband when operating terminal products. Finally, there is the advantage of the big data platform. Operators can obtain user behavior through network connections, and then provide more user-friendly services on Internet TV.

How should operators implement Internet TV?

At present, operators such as China Telecom, China Unicom, Cable TV, and Dr. Peng are all involved in TV hardware sales to some extent, and their sales volume is considerable. However, these TVs sold have only changed the sales channels and are not true operator TVs.

So, what inspiration will the televisions made by operators bring to the industry?

Feng Jinjun, vice president of Dr. Peng Group, once said, "If one day you buy a TV and someone gives you bandwidth for free, it must be us who did it." From this we can see that the way operators play is obviously different from that of traditional TV manufacturers and Internet companies.

At present, Xiaomi and LeTV's crossover into the Internet TV industry is nothing more than changing the TV industry's profit model that used to rely on hardware to make profits, and obtaining long-term profits through value-added services such as advertising. However, at present, it is still difficult for the Internet TV business of the two companies to achieve profitability.

In addition to the above-mentioned Internet companies' gameplay, operators can also support themselves by charging broadband fees rather than relying solely on advertising revenue. For the color TV industry that is undergoing transformation, this is an idea worth learning from.

Private operators will become the frontrunners

So among the many operators, who will produce the first operator Internet TV?

It is predicted that private operators are more likely to become the leaders. At present, the national policy encourages private enterprises to enter the basic operation industry, which has created a very good market environment for private telecom operators.

Moreover, compared with traditional operators, private operators are smaller in size, which means that in the face of transformation, private operators can get rid of many burdens. They have more courage to subvert the traditional broadband operation model and are more willing to choose cross-border attempts.

According to Feng Jinjun, "On February 4, Dr. Peng will launch the world's first TV set made by an operator." The news also proves that private operators are more practical in the Internet TV industry.

It is understood that in addition to the Damai Box, Dr. Peng has also launched products such as routers and mobile terminals, and has achieved good sales. Unlike other operators, Dr. Peng will participate in the R&D and operation of terminal products to make the products more in line with the attributes of operators, thereby bringing better experience to users.

On the other hand, operators involved in the Internet TV industry will also face some potential risks, such as how to control the high manufacturing costs of televisions and whether private broadband operators can bear the initial losses.

It is certain that operator TV is getting closer and closer to users. In the future, when operators develop Internet TV, they will take home broadband business as the core of their development, which will form a more obvious differentiated competition route between traditional manufacturers and Internet manufacturers.

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.