After the "disruption" wave, traditional TV manufacturers are forced to run fast

In the past two years, as more and more Internet brands have entered the color TV industry, many changes have taken place in the domestic color TV market. Their arrival has almost made the word "subversion" a special term in the field of Internet TV.

In this "disruption" process, domestic color TVs have undergone a sudden change from non-intelligent to intelligent, from high price to low price, and from offline to online. Behind the seemingly turbulent situation, who will be the final winner, the disruptor or the disrupted?

High-end intelligence is available to ordinary people

At the end of 2012, I bought a smart TV from a well-known domestic brand. Although it cost nearly 10,000 yuan, I still felt very satisfied to be able to experience operations similar to those on an Android phone on TV.

But after just over a year, the price of smart TVs dropped from 18,000 yuan to 3,000 to 4,000 yuan, but the performance, picture quality and appearance of the TVs have been greatly improved. In other words, after the overall upgrade of the TV configuration, the TV has become cheaper. This has gradually made smart TVs accepted by ordinary consumers, and the concept of smart TVs has been further popularized. The products that once cost tens of thousands of yuan have begun to fly into the homes of ordinary people.

The huge market demand and the involvement of Internet brands have prompted traditional TV manufacturers to deeply embrace the Internet and put a lot of effort into the category of smart TVs. In terms of appearance, Konka's Yi TV slim is only 1.28cm thick; in terms of concept, Skyworth a55 is called a 55-inch tablet; in terms of function, TCL has also launched a TV with a gaming function.

In order to make up for the shortcomings in content, traditional TV manufacturers are more actively cooperating with licensees and video websites. After the rectification of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television in recent months, the TV hardware business of Internet companies, which have always been the vanguard, has been greatly affected, which has also prompted traditional TV manufacturers to start a new round of market exploration.

At present, smart TVs priced at RMB 3,000 to 4,000 have become mainstream products in the color TV market, and Internet videos and TV games have also become standard features of smart TVs. Consumers can purchase smart TVs of different prices and performances according to their own needs.

After being "disrupted", the entire color TV market has become more colorful, traditional manufacturers' thinking has become more active, and consumers have more choices.

Sales volume still varies

Lu Renbo, deputy secretary-general of the China Electronic Commerce Association and home appliance expert, once said that as manufacturers' profits from TV hardware gradually decline, if a TV manufacturer's annual sales volume does not reach 1 million units, it will be difficult for it to survive.

According to the first half report of this year by a domestic Internet brand with strong strength, the cumulative sales of Internet TVs under this brand since its launch as of June 30, 2014 was about 900,000 units, of which the sales from January to June 2014 were about 700,000 units.

Selling 700,000 sets in half a year is a very good achievement for Internet TV companies, but this number is nothing compared to traditional manufacturers. At the Konka "Easy TV Three Campaigns" promotion conference held by Konka TV on October 17, Konka Group stated that the goal of the Konka Easy TV Three Campaigns is to sell 500,000 sets in 49 days and achieve sales of 1.5 billion.

With 500,000 units sold in less than two months and 700,000 units sold in half a year, the sales volume of traditional TV manufacturers is still amazing compared with Internet TV manufacturers. An industry insider joked: "If traditional TV manufacturers gave away a roll of toilet paper for every TV they sold, they could save a toilet paper factory."

But one fact that cannot be ignored is that the sales volume of color TV offline channels has begun to decline gradually. According to the "Summary Report of China's Color TV Market in the First Half of 2014" released by Aowei Consulting, the sales volume of traditional channels in the first half of 2014 was 17.94 million units, accounting for 86%, a year-on-year decrease of 16%; the sales volume of online channels was 2.98 million units, accounting for 14%, a year-on-year increase of 77%. The online channel still maintained a high growth rate.

Faced with this situation, a color TV dealer in Liaoning said, "Now the buses here are covered with JD.com ads. If you want to sell TVs offline, the price and product must be attractive enough to consumers."

This situation has also prompted traditional home appliance manufacturers to pay more attention to the promotion of their own brands. For example, Konka TV even spent a lot of money to invite the "national goddess" Fan Bingbing to endorse its own TV.

In the "three major campaigns" promotion strategy launched recently, Konka will launch the "Konka does not charge zero, refuse 999" national zero elimination action in October. In November, it will launch the "Konka Goddess Festival, Goddess Price" and challenge Jack Ma with Bingbing, online prices and offline enjoyment. In December, Konka will launch a series of activities such as the second Konka Super WeChat Group, Konka WeChat user privileges, and Yi TV slim crowdfunding ten times rebate. Behind the sales war of TV manufacturers is actually the shaping and strengthening of corporate brands.

After experiencing the baptism of the subversive army, the domestic color TV industry has begun to become younger, more fashionable, and more entertaining, and has begun to actively embrace the Internet and users. In this game, traditional TV manufacturers are forced to reverse their growth from "uncle" to lively young people, and the biggest winner will be the users who return to the living room entertainment.

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.