Baidu TV products launched two consecutive times to enter the market and lock in distribution channels

On August 19, Baidu released "Baidu TV Assistant 1.0", a mobile application that can interconnect mobile phones and TVs through the same network. Using this APP, users can install or push content and applications on Baidu TV Assistant to the TV end, and the application also covers the functions of mobile phone remote control.

Push content in Baidu TV Assistant

Just a few days ago, on August 15, Baidu TV Game Platform was launched. As Baidu TV game distribution platform, the current version is 1.0, providing game browsing, downloading and playing services for Android smart TVs and OTT boxes. Currently, most of the games on the platform are emulator games and ported versions of Android mobile games.

In less than a week, Baidu has released two software products for large-screen TVs, which clearly shows its eagerness to develop its products on the TV side. By comparing the two products, we can find some similarities.

1. Both products are applications for TVs and use mobile phones. You need to download the APP on your mobile phone to operate them.

2. The connection method between the TV and the mobile phone is to use the same network to interconnect the coverage devices, and in this way, the mobile phone is transformed into a control device;

3. It covers all game content. Baidu TV Assistant also adds TV application software such as video and browser;

5. The essence of both products is application distribution platform, and the current test product selection is more inclined towards various TV boxes.

Baidu TV Game Assistant covers gaming content

By comparing the two TV application software released by Baidu within a week, it is not difficult to find that although one is a game aggregation platform and the other is a TV software aggregation platform, games are still the most concerned entry point for Baidu. Baidu's attention to TV games is also representative of the general view of the industry: the industry generally believes that TV games will become another explosion point in the game field after mobile games, and it is also a new profit point in the Internet TV business. At this stage where high-quality games are scarce, content is the hottest resource in the industry. However, referring to the development trajectory of the mobile game industry, distribution channels play a vital role in the promotion of games. Perhaps it is precisely because of this that the giants are unwilling to miss the opportunity at the platform level, which has led to the emergence of TV game distribution platforms of various brands.

Another notable phenomenon is that in the field of large-screen TVs, hardware manufacturers do not seem to want to repeat the mistakes of mobile phone manufacturers and hand over platform channels to others. Instead, they take the lead in layout, launch and operate their own application markets, such as Lenovo Smart TV's Le Store, Hisense TV's Juhaowan platform, TCL's Huanwang TV Assistant, LeTV TV's LeTV App Store, etc. This is very different from the mobile game market where the distribution power is still concentrated on third-party mobile application distribution platforms such as Baidu and 360.

Of course, it does not mean that third-party application/game platforms cannot gain a foothold in the smart TV market. Grape Game Hall, KO Arcade, ATET Game Platform, AIWI Motion Game Platform, Xiaocong Game Platform, etc. are all professional game distribution platforms specially created for TV games. Users can complete the installation by actively downloading. At the same time, these platforms are also staking out their own territory in the mainstream domestic smart TV brands and pre-installing them .

In this regard, some experts pointed out that due to the high threshold for operating smart TVs and the incomplete education of the smart TV market, it is still difficult for ordinary users to search, download, install and run software on their TVs. After buying a TV, many users watch whatever content is available on TV and play whatever games are available on TV. Therefore, despite the aggressive development of various distribution platforms, the current distribution rights on the TV side are still firmly in the hands of TV manufacturers.

Similar to Baidu TV Assistant, the method of pushing apps to TVs via mobile phones is still a new solution. After all, users are more familiar with the operation of mobile phones, and Baidu TV Assistant also avoids the risks of poor control experience and high user education costs of smart TVs. In other words, Baidu's usual tactics of using "distribution platform" on the newer platform of "smart TV" with "user-familiar control methods" is a good attempt.

Interestingly, through installation and operation experiments, we found that these two softwares run much more stably on multiple TV boxes than on smart TVs. It seems that the focus of Baidu's recent two TV applications is on TV boxes. In addition, Baidu has focused on the interconnection and game control of mobile devices (mainly mobile phones). Has Baidu, an "industry giant", also realized the difficulty of grabbing the right to speak on TV game/application distribution at this stage, and thus turned to focus on peripherals such as OTT and mobile phones ? Whatever the answer, the real fun is yet to come.

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.