In unison, why are BAT collectively imitating LeEco's ecosystem?

In 2014, "ecosystem" became a fashionable word in the Internet industry, especially in the video industry. However, it seems that only Internet companies of a certain scale dare to call themselves "ecosystem", because the establishment of "ecosystem" is based on the advantages of the original business and strategic deployment. After LeTV first proposed the "ecosystem" concept of "platform + content + terminal + application" two years ago, the staged victory gave birth to a group of followers, including the three Internet giants BAT.

For a long time, the well-capitalized BAT expanded rapidly horizontally, attempting to occupy various entrances to mobile Internet life through mergers and acquisitions. However, in 2014, whether it was the three companies entering the film industry in unison or Alibaba entering the automobile industry to occupy a new entrance, it can be seen that BAT also began vertical industry chain integration like LeTV. Why was LeTV able to successfully establish a vertically integrated ecological model ahead of others, which made BAT collectively imitate it?

From oddity to miracle, crushing doubts with facts

The birth of new things is always accompanied by doubts. Usually, if a new thing succeeds, it will become a hero who is not afraid of difficulties and doubts, but if it fails, it will become the target of public criticism for "not listening to the advice of the old people". But in fact, only those who dare to say "subversion" can succeed. A frog in a well guarding a small piece of land has no chance of failure, nor does he have the chance of success. LeTV is an uneasy element that repeatedly breaks away from the routine, accompanied by doubts all the way, but speaks with facts and data again and again.

At the beginning of the chaos among video websites, no one could see how long the money-burning road would last. After 2009, domestic video websites were overwhelmed by copyright issues. The case of more than 80 copyright holders suing one website made video websites shudder, but LeTV was not affected. When the regulation tightened and the copyright market tended to be standardized, the video websites were surprised to find that LeTV had begun to acquire a large number of film and television copyrights since 2005. When the price of copyrights rose, copyright distribution became an important part of LeTV's profitability. In 2011, LeTV became the first profitable video website in China.

If the copyright acquisition is just a manifestation of foresight, then the birth of LeTV Super TV was indeed a "blockbuster" at the time. When Jia Yueting announced in a high-profile manner that LeTV would launch a super TV, the media and industry insiders bombarded it, calling LeTV "alternative" and "outsider", and LeTV's stock price even fell by 40% at one point. Today, when LeTV Super TV's share of the overall color TV market is ahead of the three major foreign brands Samsung, Sharp, and Sony, and when LeTV Mall became the fastest-growing e-commerce website in 2013, the doubts of that year have long been refuted.

Jia Yueting once said, "When 95% of people are not optimistic, then it is worth doing, and only by doing it can it be subversive." It is precisely these seemingly stubborn and unreasonable persistence that made LeTV the first video website listed on the A-share market, and in just a few years it jumped to the top of the GEM market value. Just recently, LeTV.com also set a record for the highest amount of refinancing on the GEM.

Now, there are rumors that LeEco will launch a fresh food e-commerce business on August 18, but industry insiders are still not optimistic. But who knows if this is another journey from madness to subversion, from weirdness to miracle?

Subverting traditional industries with model and genetic advantages

LeEco's insight into the market is as sharp as a cheetah, which enables LeEco to be the first to establish a vertical ecosystem of "platform + content + terminal + application", which means that LeEco's road to subversion will inevitably affect traditional industries. In fact, LeEco is also becoming a "catfish" in some traditional fields with its own model and genetic advantages, constantly subverting traditional industries.

Let's talk about the film industry first. BAT couldn't hold back from entering the film and television industry this year. Although the three giants are always fighting each other in various fields, it is the first time that the three companies have worked together in a certain field in such a coordinated manner. No wonder Harold L. Vogel said, "It is probably difficult to find an industry more fascinating than film."

LeTV established LeTV Pictures in March 2011, becoming the first Internet company to enter the film industry. It has now successfully become one of the top three domestic film companies. LeTV Pictures has defined itself as a "film company in the Internet era" from the beginning, and has completely subverted the operation methods and models of the entire chain of IP, production, creativity, marketing, distribution, derivative products and services in the past film industry with Internet thinking. Take "Tiny Times 3" as an example. This is a movie operated in the mode of product managers. From the beginning, the audience group was accurately understood, just as Guo Jingming said, "I know what my fans like." In other aspects, LeTV's vertical ecological chain has synergized, from marketing to distribution of the entire industry chain operation, multi-screen output, fan effect management, and derivative product development, making the source of income more extensive. The accurate insight into user needs, cost savings, and increased sources of income have made "Tiny Times 3" a milestone work of "Internet generation" movies.

Let's talk about the TV industry. For a long time, the traditional TV industry has been stable, and shipments have been declining year by year. However, the launch of LeTV TV Super TV has stirred up a lot of trouble. Not only has sales increased against the trend, but the 92% monthly power-on rate far exceeds the 30% of traditional TVs. The combination of software and hardware is the trend of future development, and it is also the advantage of LeTV TV Super TV.

On the one hand, in terms of hardware, LeTV TV·Super TV adheres to the concept of "millions of people are dissatisfied, millions of people participate, millions of people develop, millions of people use, and millions of people spread", truly allowing users to participate in every aspect of product development, providing users with the ultimate experience and personalized services. At the same time, through the optimization of the industrial chain, Super TV subverts the traditional TV landscape with "twice the performance and half the price", pushing the industry to bid farewell to the era of relying on hardware for profit. On the other hand, in terms of software, LeTV TV·Super TV is equipped with Letv UI and built-in Letv Store, which not only contains LeTV's high-quality video content, but also more than 3,000 applications to meet all users' living room large-screen needs.

According to rough statistics, Jia Yueting's capital support for LeTV's various listed businesses has accumulated to nearly 2 billion, and he has never sold his personal LeTV shares. This shows his personal confidence and sense of responsibility for the future of LeTV's ecosystem. Recently, there have been reports that iQiyi will set up a joint venture to produce its own brand of TVs, and there are also reports that Baidu will enter the field of TV games. It seems that the video competition has risen to a multi-screen competition. Only integrated ecological competition can occupy a first-line advantage. Regarding the aggressive ecological trend, the always confident Jia Yueting said, "LeTV's ecosystem has built a complete ecosystem from upstream content production, to content platform-style integration, to CDN transmission, to terminal device coverage and external application input. The threshold of LeTV's ecosystem is very high and it is difficult to be copied."

Indeed, LeEco's vertically integrated LeEco ecosystem layout was early, and it was in a leading position in terms of overall strategy. The reserves of talent, technology, and content are not something that can be caught up in a short time. Moreover, the integration of BAT is mostly through capital mergers and acquisitions, and it is difficult to have full voice in various fields. The establishment of its ecosystem is bound to go through a painful running-in process. What's more, will LeEco, which has been moving rapidly, sit and wait for death? Leaping and subversion do not rely on imitation, but on a complete layout, an extreme understanding of Internet thinking, and a persistent pursuit of user experience. LeEco's ecosystem can be used as a reference, but it is not easy to surpass it.

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.