LeTV TV Hong Kong's "zero price" heralds the era of free hardware in mainland China

As the first step to enter the overseas international market, LeTV Super TV's trial in the Hong Kong market was a complete success. Yesterday, the first batch of LeTV 4K Super TV X50 Air Hong Kong version test machines were sold out in 2 seconds at LeTV Hong Kong Mall, setting a new record for the rush to buy 4K Super TVs.

In addition to successfully replicating the marketing model of LeTV Super TV in the Hong Kong market, LeTV TV also launched the first "4K Home Broadband Entertainment Package" with Hutchison Global Communications Limited, the fixed-line business of Hutchison Telecommunications Hong Kong Holdings Limited, creating a "zero-cost" hardware-free market model. With Hutchison Global Communications and LeTV TV providing 100MB broadband and super smart TVs that meet the needs of 4K TVs, users only need to pay a certain monthly rent to enjoy the "zero-cost" discount.

Mainland TV manufacturers do not have much advantage in entering the Hong Kong market. Although Hong Kong is known as a "cultural desert", its TV industry was once very prosperous. For decades, Hong Kong consumers have been fond of Japanese TV brands, and mainland TV brands do not have an advantage in the Hong Kong market. LeTV's entry into Hong Kong with its super TV, which has a huge content resource advantage, can be said to have "carved out a bloody path". LeTV Super TV entered the market with hardware conditions and took advantage of its huge content resources, becoming the first major axe to change this situation.

LeEco, under the important premise of adhering to the Internet thinking mode, has opened up the Hong Kong user market into a new marketing model of "free hardware, paid services". This marketing model is not available in the mainland and is rare in Hong Kong. In the past two years, with the praise of mainland dramas such as "The Legend of Zhen Huan" and reality show "Where Are We Going, Dad?" in Hong Kong, mainland film and television content has begun to have a certain market foundation in Hong Kong. Compared with mainland users who have long enjoyed free service content, Hong Kong users with Westernized thinking are more likely to accept this "free hardware, paid services" payment method.

When LeTV TV introduced its LeTV ecosystem of "platform + content + terminal + application" to Hong Kong, it also brought its four-fold profit model of "hardware revenue + content revenue + application sharing + terminal advertising" that was not dependent on hardware revenue to the international market. While many traditional companies still stayed in the mainland market and relied only on hardware sales to maintain their so-called profit margins, LeTV TV seemed to be one step ahead and led the industry.

While entering the Hong Kong market, LeTV also did not neglect the development of its ecosystem. In terms of platform, it continued to increase investment in CDN to improve the stability of the LeTV platform; in terms of content, it expanded its original resource library by purchasing TV series, sports programs, variety shows, etc.; for terminals, it continued to update Letv UI every week; and then added increasingly improved and rich TV applications to form a virtuous circle and further build the LeTV ecosystem.

Regarding LeTV's first battle in Hong Kong, LeTV CEO Jia Yueting posted on Weibo: "The first stop of internationalization, 2 seconds, a real instant sale. Similarly, creating the greatest value for users is the key to success in the Hong Kong market. I hope Super TV and LeTV can become the best new media bridge for Chinese culture to go global."

Before we wish LeTV TV to enter the world's international stage, we are still looking forward to the "free hardware, paid service" marketing model being promoted online in the mainland market. Compared with the Hong Kong market and overseas markets, the feasibility and user value of the mainland market are more worthy of LeTV's attention. In addition to the huge user base and market potential, after LeTV TV has changed the profit model of hardware in the mainland market, it is also necessary to bring everyone into the era of free hardware.

After years of cultivation by the three major operators, domestic mobile communication users have gradually accepted the sales model of "contract phones" and "prepayment of phone bills for 0 yuan to buy phones". If the payment model of "free hardware and paid services" pioneered by LeTV TV enters the mainland market, users can use the free LeTV Super TV and then choose the content applications they need by paying, such as sports, news, movies, education, games, etc. Although whether this model can be successfully replicated in the field of smart TVs remains to be seen, it is believed that its trial in Hong Kong has also given LeTV greater confidence.

Of course, when calling for the arrival of this era of free hardware, we cannot help but consider the existential crisis of other traditional enterprises. Without a complete ecosystem like LeEco, traditional enterprises will be doomed to fail when the era of free hardware arrives, as they cannot obtain profit direction from back-end services and advertising sectors.

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.