September 19th, the video site Letv announced that it would start making TV sets, and will launch a new brand called “Super LeTV”. If this really happens, Letv will be the first Chinese tech company that has entered the manufacturing of televisions.
What will a Super LeTV be like? Curiosity kills the cat. Actually this has aroused much attention for a while because the company’s already leaked the trailer that it would “overthrow” the TV industry earlier this month. Currently the VP Liang Junjun refuses to reveal any details about the secret TV product. Here’s some predictions and comments from insiders.
It is mostly predicted that this super TV should be a smart one which is loaded with an operating system. Users can experience more apps and services besides enjoying the TV programmes.
Founder of the LeTV said that they named it Super because it was aimed at leading the whole TV industry into a new direction more than just a new offering. The company had put in some cash into its subsidiary for TV business and the holdings company had also added RMB 28.28million capital increase for support. On 18th, the board of directions decided that the in the future year it will keep on investing capital > RMB100million on developing smart TVs and set top boxes.
Some source revealed that the Super LeTV would start a cloud platform in which the smart system provides sufficient contents with high quality, plus a whole value chain based on a 3rd party app store. As to the business model, the company will revenue through “Hardware + Contents + Sharing Revenues from Apps + Terminal advertisements”. Sounds quite revolutionary from the traditional shopping mall coverage or massive sales. However this is idea doesn’t sound good to some insiders.
Li Yi, chief director of China Mobile Internet Industry Alliance discouraged this ides by saying that, “By now, even the local TV manufacturers are having a hard time, a new player from a totally different area will surely face serious challenges.” He also talked about another tech company which is rolling in hardware, “Xiaomi Technology originally tried to promote sales by its built-in chatting apps Miliao, which is proved not that successful. And now it could be similar for Letv as I see.”
Accordingly Letv did invite some tech expertises from companies like Lenovo, Vancl, Samsung, but was doubted by an anonymous insider that, “Based on our analysis and assessment of various products, Letv’s set top box will not surprise most of its users, for the time being the company itself still needs improving in technology and strength in hardwares.”