Will the "smart" gimmick of home appliances win the day? The dispute between the two factions has started again

"I don't think any of the so-called smart homes have learning personalities, and none of them are qualified." Peng Gang, senior vice president of LeTV TV, told a reporter from Southern Metropolis Daily yesterday. At this year's Home Expo, LeTV rarely had a dialogue with home appliance companies. The former also "lived up to expectations" and made tough remarks. First, it mentioned free services again, and second, it severely criticized companies that proposed smart home strategies, "Install a WIFI device on everything, from home appliances to air conditioners. It will definitely drive people crazy."

Intelligence seems to be between prosperity and chaos. Not only is the heat as hot as magma, but various forces have also started to attack and defend in a pioneering way, and there are endless unconventional alliances. Hisense has joined forces with 11 video networks to share content, achieving the largest-scale Internet video content sharing in China so far, and the stock price rose by the daily limit on the same day. At the same time, mutual trampling is also common. A person in charge of a traditional home appliance company told Nandu reporters: Internet companies are also facing a red ocean, and they are also anxious. As for the issue of smart home, he said that smart home is not a tree without water.

Smart Home Debate

"I usually stay inside the company to speak, because they don't dare to let me out, fearing that what I say is too radical." Internet companies began to become guests of the Home Appliance Development Summit Forum of the Home Expo this year, and they are not stingy with sharp words. Peng Gang said that some companies said they were making smart homes and installed a WIFI device on everything, from home appliances to air conditioners. This would be absolutely crazy, and they have not really entered the so-called intelligent era. Peng Gang believes that everything made today is called home appliances, which is actually very outdated. He told the Nandu reporter that real smart devices should be able to learn user habits, called smart devices, and we define them as learning-type. If a terminal is not made into a learning-type, it is meaningless."

LeTV, which aimed to revolutionize others from the beginning, also stepped on a group of companies this time. During the Home Expo, Haier, Changhong, Midea and other companies expressed optimistic predictions about smart home and launched their own products or control system platforms. Midea, as a white appliance company, has also released overall smart home related products and strategies. Not only large home appliances, but also in the field of small home appliances, some new products with intelligent control technology are about to be launched. The "Xiaozhi" series of electric kettles developed by Seymour Electric, as the first electric kettle equipped with intelligent control technology in China, also appeared at the Home Expo. It can be said that in the face of the tide of intelligence, smart home is almost a recognized development direction for home appliance companies, and they are learning to use "Internet thinking" to re-establish their competitiveness.

In response to LeEco's blunt criticism, a senior executive of a company that had just launched its smart home strategy defended LeEco to a reporter from Southern Metropolis Daily, saying that current IoT and Internet technologies already support the interconnection of home appliances and home products. The first step is interconnection and control, and the second stage is content collaboration, which automatically meets consumers' personalized needs based on big data collection and processing. "Some companies have already achieved the second stage. Under the current technical environment, companies already have a foundation for developing smart homes."

The aforementioned executive said that LeTV's annual fee is not low either, and from the perspective of overall expenditure, the difference is not much. In addition, he believes that whether it is an Internet company or a color TV company, profits ultimately come from hardware, services and content applications, and it is impossible to be completely free. LeTV, which has entered the TV market, can be described as a barbarian. The price of its super TV is not the lowest, but only lower. Although the sales volume as of January this year was only about 300,000 units, its model has already caused an impact on home appliance companies with millions of units or even higher scale. LeTV is also the first company to say that TVs are not excluded from free.

Value chain extension, pursuit and interception?

Whether it is a home appliance company that launches smart home or a cross-border Internet company, its purpose is to extend the value chain, no longer limited to hardware or content. Being free in a link that others charge for is a killer. Finding a new charging link will allow you to dominate. On the afternoon of March 18, Hisense and 11 video websites including Future TV, iQiyi PPS, Phoenix Video, Ku6, LeTV, Lekan, PPT V, Sohu Video, Tencent Video, Youku Tudou, and Youpeng announced a contract for cooperation. Liu Hongxin, general manager of Hisense Electric, said, "We don't do content, we only do video entrances." According to Liu Hongxin's explanation, Hisense provides products and websites provide content. Their core interests will never conflict. Around the "big screen" of TV, the "1+11" pattern formed by video websites and Hisense will achieve the largest-scale Internet video content sharing in China so far. Hisense's efforts are one of the main models of industrial alliance at present, that is, the alliance of enterprises in various links of content, services and hardware, but the scale and scope have been maximized. However, the specific products and services will not be revealed until a month later.

Hisense, Changhong, LeTV, Xiaomi and other companies are currently relying on their existing accumulation to actively expand upward or downward, or even busier, in both directions. Peng Gang said that they do have cooperation with Hisense, but LeTV will also charge users an annual fee of 490 yuan for using LeTV content. They are also LeTV users, but LeTV will provide more content services to Super TV users. "We are not completely fighting each other."

In fact, the breadth and scope of cross-border cooperation have been repeatedly refreshed, which is due to the multiple explorations and uncertainties of future development models. So far, no company dares to go all the way, and there must be Plan A and Plan B, multiple insurances. LeTV's move does not rule out this consideration. Changhong spokesman Liu Haizhong said that everyone is facing the pressure of transformation. The real industry needs to connect with the Internet, and the Internet also hopes to connect the virtual with the real. "Lei Jun and Dong Mingzhu made a bet, and Jack Ma chose to support Dong Mingzhu, because without the support of the real industry, development is a bubble."

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.