Lei Jun has actually made the decision: the destination of Xiaomi's billion US dollars is about to be revealed

On the afternoon of November 4, on the way to the Xiaomi press conference, the news that Chen Tong, who had just resigned from Sina, had joined Xiaomi Technology was leaked on Weibo. As a result, a flood of articles discussing why Chen Tong chose Xiaomi began to spread online, and the comments from this perspective continued until the press conference when Lei Jun announced that he would invest 1 billion US dollars in Chen Tong to help him build Xiaomi's content field.

How to spend one billion dollars? At the press conference, before we could figure out how many fingers we needed to count one billion dollars, we asked Mr. Lei about the spending plan. However, the answer we got was extremely vague and evasive.

At this point, we have to guess where the billion dollars went based on the existing clues.

First of all, Lei Jun and Chen Tong have repeatedly stated that Xiaomi's content construction will be based on the principle of "only buying, not making", which also shows that the Xiaomi model will be different from the LeTV model, and will not create a new video website to fill the gap in content. In fact, as an out-and-out Internet company, without a complete enterprise-type ecological chain, its construction and development cannot be called long-term, and Xiaomi is no exception. Especially when selling hardware products at very low prices, the significance of software and Internet service construction is even more important. Moreover, good user experience and service can cultivate more lasting user stickiness.

User demand is the root cause, and corporate demand also stimulates the emergence of this demand. Perhaps everyone still remembers the serious copyright lawsuit between Xiaomi and LeTV this summer, but what I want to say is that in addition to LeTV, Xiaomi has also fought copyright lawsuits with Xunlei, Youku, Hunan Satellite TV, etc. Youku sent Xiaomi more than 100 letters of attorney regarding infringement within a year, an average of 2 letters per week.

Okay, without further ado, let me lead you to analyze one by one how Chen Tong will spend the one billion US dollars he just received within half a year and truly achieve his promise of "bringing earth-shaking changes in the field of Internet TV."

Under the policy of "buying but not doing", there is no doubt that a large amount of investment or acquisition is required in a certain video website. However, the current situation is that several well-known domestic video websites have already been taken, and even two or three of them are backed by the three major Internet giants BAT. It is really difficult for Xiaomi to find the one that is truly suitable for itself in this chaotic change.

1. Xunlei: In April this year, Xiaomi invested 200 million yuan in Xunlei, which not only resolved the copyright lawsuit between itself and Xunlei, but also obtained the authorization of Xunlei cloud acceleration business, and built it into Xiaomi mobile phones, Xiaomi TVs and Xiaomi boxes, solving some content shortcomings. But the current situation is that Xunlei, which is plagued by the image of piracy, not only has no richer content, but was recently named by the American Association (MPAA) as a website that provides pirated download links worldwide, causing Xiaomi, which is seeking a positive image, to no longer dare to have more contact with it.

2. LeTV: I won’t say much about this. Although an article titled “Chen Tong’s future rival is not LeTV, he will face BAT in competition and cooperation” was widely circulated after the press conference, it can be basically determined that the real relationship between the two companies is impossible.

3. Tencent Video: There is not much to say about this. As one of the three major Internet giants, Tencent is not short of money.

4. PPTV: As one of Suning's most "weird" investments, PPTV has been keeping a low profile since joining Suning. Although PPTV is responsible for Suning's e-commerce and home entertainment interconnection, the current situation does not rule out the possibility that Xiaomi also likes to eat leftovers.

5. Youku Tudou: It was once the No. 1 in the video website industry, so Chen Tong’s ten billion US dollars seems a little less.

6. Mango TV: It is developing rapidly and is affiliated with the radio and television system, and is one of the licensees. Although it has financing plans, it needs to complete internal restructuring first. So Mango is interested, and Xiaomi can't wait.

7. 56.com: If Chaoyang's brain had not rusted, he would not give away the 56.com that he had just bought for $25 million. You know, compared to the $80 million that Renren paid for it, this was the biggest bargain in the video website industry. Moreover, 56.com has been merged into Sohu Video and is no longer a name.

8. Fengxing.com : The video website with the “greatest suspicion”. Backed by Shanghai Media Group Cable Company (SMG), it is considered one of the more suitable investments for Xiaomi Technology. But the question is, as an important platform of SMG and a representative of radio and television video websites, is it necessary to sell it to Xiaomi?

9. Ku6: In April this year, Ku6.com, which is controlled by Shanda, sold 41% of its shares to Xu Xudong, the founder of a company called Sky Profit. The company information of Sky Profit shows that another shareholder of the company is Lei Jun, a non-executive director of Kingsoft. Tracing back to the source, it turns out that in 2008, Kingsoft, where Lei Jun worked, bought 30% of the shares of this company for $8 million. In other words, Ku6.com is basically their own thing, and there is no need to worry about it anymore.

10. ? : Which video website company is left unnamed? It must be the most "suspicious". So, for the rest, please use your brains. Meanwhile, let's wait for another explosive news in the field of Internet TV.

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.