Domestic TV hits the cloud concept Shantou foreign brands do not buy it

Recently, Shenzhen TV industry has drifted into a piece of “cloud”. While foreign brands are still focusing on promoting smart TVs, domestic TV manufacturers have extended the battlefield to the concept of “cloud”, especially Konka, Skyworth, and TCL. The three Shenzhen TV giants have preemptively launched and released a variety of “cloud TV”s. A "big screen revolution" is about to erupt.

The industry generally believes that the concept of cloud is released, which means TV companies are shifting from a hardware model to a "hardware + content + service" model. However, what exactly is cloud television? From Internet TV, smart TV to cloud TV, the product concept is frequently updated and updated. Is it technical innovation or conceptual hype? Why do domestic manufacturers have a lot of trouble in the cloud when foreign brands collectively remain silent?

Cloud TV will open up the Internet in Xinjiang?

Aowei Consulting's data shows that in the first half of the domestic retail market, 19.37 million sets of color TVs were sold, 46.3% of the annual forecast was completed, and sales were 73.66 billion yuan, down 0.6% and 2.3% year-on-year, respectively, which was significantly lower than the previous 10%. The increase is expected. Yi Yi Consulting chief analyst Zhang Yi believes: "TV in the consumer market 'three screens' (mobile phones, computers, television) in the weak competition, and the competition between manufacturers homogenized, the entire industry needs new concepts to To stimulate consumption, cloud television is born in this context."

However, Internet TV, smart TV and other concepts have just come out, the market has not been rolled out, half a road and killed a cloud TV, manufacturers of multi-pronged approach, can not help but make people feel at a loss. What is cloud TV's sacredness? Yang Dongwen, vice president of Skyworth Group, made an image metaphor. Traditional television is like a well dug in the house and it is difficult to share. “Cloud” is the tap water system, TV is the faucet, the network is the water pipe, and the manufacturer is the tap water plant. You can use the water tap whenever you turn on the tap. And television can be used not only to see, but also to surf the Internet, socialize, and play games.

In fact, cloud TV is just a terminal device of the IT concept "cloud". Yan Xiaolin, vice president of TCL Group, said that cloud TV is a television product that uses cloud computing and cloud storage technology and is a cloud device.

It is understood that the current application of cloud computing is mainly concentrated in the IT industry, such as for data storage, virtual computing and other services, the so-called cloud TV is based on the Android system as a platform to reach the mobile phone, tablet PC and PC interconnection, Interoperability and interaction. For example, Konka proposes that through cloud TVs, "small screens can transmit large screens." Whether it is Apple's iPhone/iPad or Samsung's tablet computers, it can achieve the synchronization of tablet PCs and TVs.

The Apple AppStore model allows hardware manufacturers to see the growth of mobile Internet applications. Mobile phones and PCs have taken the first step. Although TV manufacturers are also following up, the limitations of Internet TV and smart TVs in the past have been more obvious. They are not only complicated to operate but also self-contained. In one, marketing and even with the other "two screens" court rivals, in the mobile phones and computers that have become daily necessities, certainly in the offense. Zhang Yi believes: "TV manufacturers want to use 'cloud' as a node to connect mobile phones, computers and other equipment, to achieve seamless docking, from the competition between different devices to cooperation."

Moving from Hardware to Software Facing Challenges Yang Dongwen, vice president of Skyworth Group, believes that “TV will gradually develop into an open business bearing platform and become a household intelligent entertainment terminal.” However, upgrading from Internet TV and smart TV to cloud TV means TV The profit model of manufacturers has shifted from pure sales hardware to back-office software and services. This is undoubtedly a new test for manufacturers' "soft power."

TV manufacturers with long-term hardware technology and sales have only just entered the cloud, and Apple and Google have already come a long way. Even Internet giants represented by Tencent and Huawei ZTE mobile phone manufacturers have all taken steps. In the first step, the hardware and software have been upgraded several times to reach a certain level of intelligence. Appliance analyst Liu Buchen pointed out that mobile phones and IT have become very familiar with cloud platforms. TV manufacturers have come a long way from beginning to end. How to improve user experience and push them away in the market, so that consumers are pleased to accept that there may be a long way to go.

For example, this year, Skyworth TV's sales target is 9 million units. If all of them achieve “cloud” and advertise 5GB cloud storage space for each cloud TV, it may be necessary to build a 10 million-GB data center. This is already quite For a medium-to-large-sized software company, the background investment can be imagined.

However, Zhang Yi believes that although cloud TV is as much of a gimmick as real-world application, cloud TV must be a trend in the next few years. "Because TV's 'large screen' can meet more content demands, it just makes up for mobile phones. There is a shortage of portable small screens such as tablets, and a computer in between is a product that may be replaced." According to data from a number of research institutions, PC shipments in the first two quarters of this year have dropped significantly due to the surge in tablet shipments. Hewlett-Packard even made plans to spin off its PC business.

Foreign brands do not buy domestic manufacturers in the cloud noisy, but Samsung, LG, Sharp, Toshiba and other foreign TV giants are still slow to beat. At the end of last year, domestic manufacturers launched smart TVs, but until this year's CES show, these Japanese and Korean brands launched the corresponding products. The industry believes that domestic brands are in the downstream of the industrial chain, and they need to use the concept of gimmicks to stimulate market consumption and improve their profits through innovation. The Japanese and South Korean brands hold a large number of core technologies, plus the brand effect, profits are still at a high level, so no need for speculation. Jin Rongxia, president of Samsung Electronics China, once said: "Cloud TV is indeed a development trend, but it is still too early to promote it to consumers."