The competition point of the video industry has changed and the era of "ecosystem is king" has arrived

Since LeEco first proposed the LeEco ecosystem concept of "platform + content + application + terminal" two years ago, LeEco has been implementing this goal in the past two years. In 2014, the competition direction of the video industry gradually changed from point-to-point to ecosystem-to-ecosystem. With LeEco ecosystem as a model, various companies began to talk about ecosystem.

From "content is king" to "ecology is king"

In 2014, Alibaba and Tencent invested in Huayi Brothers, and Sohu Video acquired 56.com. The entire video industry, oriented towards content resources, started a new round of mergers and acquisitions. Why are video websites, which have not yet completely escaped the dilemma of "burning money", favored by these bigwigs? The construction of a complete ecological chain of "hardware + content" is undoubtedly the real reason why they are willing to spend money.

On December 4, LeEco's 2015 "State·Screen·Prosperity·Vision" marketing conference in Beijing once again emphasized the large ecological IP project resources based on the vertical industrial chain integration layout of LeEco's ecosystem in 2015. Gao Fei, executive president of LeEco's website business group, said that although LeEco's ecosystem was very lively in the past year, each link played on its own; in 2015, LeEco's ecosystem will change its gameplay, that is, all links will play together.

LeEco's ecosystem, which consists of "platform + content + application + terminal", can be said to be a combination of software and hardware. In 2014, LeEco's super TV sales were close to 2 million units, and it is expected to reach 6 to 8 million units next year. At present, the power-on rate of smart TVs far exceeds that of traditional TVs. Among them, the monthly power-on rate of super TVs is as high as 92%, far exceeding the power-on rate of traditional TVs of less than 60%.

According to iResearch statistics, LeTV has been among the top three in the video industry in 2014. In the just-concluded third quarter, LeTV's advertising revenue exceeded 440 million, with a year-on-year growth rate of more than 122%, far ahead of any other company in the industry.

According to Gao Fei, in 2015 LeTV will continue to take advantage of its vast content resources and combine resources from all terminals including LeTV Pictures, LeTV.com, LeTV Sports, LeTV Music, and Huaer Films to expand its content team and further improve the LeTV ecological system.

Favorable policies guide ecological construction

Starting from January 1, 2015, the new policy of "one drama, two stars" will be implemented on TV screens. Affected by the new policy, TV stations and producers may worry about the reduced ability to invest in TV dramas and dare not make large investments; while video websites that have been able to invest in dramas more accurately based on big data and user feedback may show more and more industry advantages.

Gao Fei said that in 2015, LeEco will build a new ecological IP business model based on the LeEco ecosystem, and form a chain-scale commercial effect of "big production, big ecosystem, and big impact."

In 2014, LeEco acquired Huaer Films. On the surface, it was to improve the LeEco ecological industry chain that it has always advocated, but in fact, it was an early layout to make another effort in the field of TV series after movies. As major video websites have joined hands or established film and television companies, we can detect the established trend of video websites expanding in this industry.

Of course, if they want to produce films and TV shows that can compete with TV stations, video website producers need to improve their operational capabilities. As video website companies continue to join the production of TV series, movies and other content, and innovate in these fields, in the future, the trend of video websites feeding back to and guiding all media may be formed.

But even so, Zhang Minhui, chief marketing officer of LeTV's website business group, still said that in LeTV's grand development plan with LeTV's ecosystem as the backdrop, user experience is the center point of LeTV's ecosystem and the foundation of its existence. All work is to give users a better experience.

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.