Reuters
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China’s Xiaomi Technology said yesterday it would spend $1bn to expand its Internet TV content as the world’s third largest smartphone maker ramps up its push into the living room, and a market estimated to be worth $3bn.
Xiaomi’s burgeoning TV unit includes its Xiaomi TV as well as a set-top box, which both use its software and content. The company is best known for its budget smartphones and tablets that have won it legions of fans worldwide.
In a post on its official Weibo microblog, Xiaomi said it had hired Chen Tong, a former executive at Chinese Internet firm Sina Corp, to overhaul the TV business and make it more “diverse and exciting”.
“We want to repeat the success of Xiaomi’s hardware integration model in the television industry,” Chen said at a press conference, according to Xiaomi’s microblog. The company did not to provide further details.
Xiaomi’s expansion of its Internet TV business pits it against local internet companies including Alibaba Group Holding, Tencent Holdings and Baidu Inc, all of which have recently increased their investment into Internet TV, a market Chinese consultancy iResearch says is estimated to be worth $3bn in 2014. Xiaomi said it could invest further in internet TV in the future.
Xiaomi has been winning users by selling inexpensive phones with hardware and specifications comparable with more expensive devices. Xiaomi sells its flagship Mi 4 starting from 1,999 yuan ($327) on its China website, or just more than one-third of the starting price for Apple’s iPhone 6 in China.
The company has also begun branching from phones into other consumer electronics. In May, the company unveiled its first tablet computer, the Mi Pad. The company earlier released the MiBox, a TV set-top box, and televisions that connect to the Web, running the Android operating system.
Xiaomi, which keeps costs down by selling directly to consumers online, was backed in its earlier funding rounds by investors including Singapore’s Temasek Holdings Pte, Qiming Venture Partners, Qualcomm Ventures, IDG Capital and Morningside Venture Capital. Xiaomi, which means millet in Chinese, was founded in 2010 to make software for mobile devices running Google’s Android system, and the company introduced its first smartphone in China the following year.
