"IQI + Xiaomi", will the turning point in the video come?

The entertainment capitalism is deeply impressed with this conclusion, but there is another logic of reasoning -

1. Baidu is not short of money. Previously, it had repurchased iqiyi shares from private equity funds. This time, it is willing to open up investment to Xiaomi. It is to look at the hardware resources of Xiaomi. This company has already claimed to be the largest mobile phone manufacturer in China. The future will become the largest in the world;

2. More valuable than 1.8 billion in cash is the video ecology of “IQIYI + PPS + Xiaomi”. If Baidu can deeply bind Xiaomi's hardware channels, it will truly form a combination of hardware and software, which will be Baidu's best layout in the video industry.

This may be a turning point for the fiercely competitive video game. Competition in the industry shifted from content competition to a combination of hardware and software. LeTV's model has been recognized and emulated, and if Baidu and Xiaomi can be deeply tied, they will be able to surpass LeTV's ecology.



1. Baidu's video "prequel"

In the video layout of BAT, Baidu's start was actually relatively late. At the time of Youku Potato's listing in 2010, iQiyi was only recently established. However, in recent years, Baidu has invested heavily in the field of video and laid great emphasis on its layout strategy. Eventually, "Iqiyi + PPS" has rapidly emerged in four years.

At the press conference yesterday, Gongyi, the founder and CEO of iQiyi, stated that the reason why iQiyi has developed so quickly is mainly due to two reasons:

(1) In macro terms, it has caught up with a very good situation, including the economic environment, and the development of the Internet industry;

(2) Microscopically, a good investor - Baidu.

Looking back at the development process of iQiyi, Baidu is almost asking for money to make a contribution.

In May 2013, Baidu announced the acquisition of the PPS video business and merged it with iQiyi. The pattern of “one super-strong and many strong” video lakes has been broken down, and the industry has emerged as a “two strong stands” situation.

With Baidu’s cash support, Iqiyi’s scraping of copyrighted content was at no cost. It quickly won a lot of quality content, and the 200 million yuan purchase of Hunan Satellite TV’s 5th variety show became a representative event. This year it also announced a homemade drama. The investment in unit costs exceeds that of TV dramas, and the investment in self-made variety shows exceeds that of TV stations.

In October of this year, Baidu invested RMB 1 billion in Huace Film and Television, and it was also interpreted by the outside world as adding content chips to the listing of iQiyi.

2. Why does Baidu pay so much attention to video?

According to a Baidu internal personage tells the entertainment capital theory, Baidu is so concerned about video, and Baidu in the mobile field of the big strategy.

In Baidu's view, video has become an important entry point for the mobile Internet and must be taken first. In addition to the video, Baidu also regards search, maps, and application distribution as important entrances, and each field is heavily involved. Another reason is that Baidu has opened up the advertising business of search and video, and the development of video has enabled Baidu's advertising to achieve better liquidity.

In fact, Ali and Tencent are also aware of the important value of video.

In April this year, Alibaba and Yunfeng Fund spent 1.22 billion U.S. dollars to buy a 18.5% stake in Youku Tudou. Alibaba's own marketing platform, Ali Mother, will also be connected with Youku Tudou Advertising Platform; and Tencent in BAT has always attached great importance to video. Funds and manpower investment are also cost-free. It is proof that 250 million yuan bought the copyright of “China Good Voice” in the third quarter.

It is in this giant hegemony situation that the competition in the Chinese video industry is much fiercer than that of its American peers. The reason why the entire industry is not profitable is to “burn money” to fight content, gain users, and occupy the market.

In addition to BAT's video site, the industry continues to have new people to join, recently, 360 and light conspired to build video sites, Hunan Satellite TV for mango TV's generous investment, and this millet into Baidu Department, no doubt stirred the video industry A pool of spring water.

In an exclusive interview with the Beijing News recently, Youku Tuo Gu Yongsheng stated that the melee in the video field is far from over. How will the video rivers and lakes develop next? It is still unknown.

3, "Iqiyi + PPS + Xiaomi", another "soft and hard combination" was born

In terms of entertainment capital, a turning point in the battle for video and rivers has arrived.

In the previous video industry, the fight was focused on content. In the future, the combination of hardware and software is the key to the video giant's fight. This cooperation between Xiaomi and iQIYI and Baidu can be a key event.

The reason for this change is that the Internet industry itself has undergone tremendous changes. From the PC-side Internet to mobile Internet, user habits have undergone tremendous changes. Who can occupy the mobile terminal in the future can really win the final victory of the video war.

However, from the point of view of PK of Internet TV, it is impossible to “steall” to simply do software as an APP. In order to get the next step, you must have hardware.

The first to realize this change is LeTV. Therefore, some video industry researchers will put LeTV in the first camp of the video industry, and put Sohu in the second camp.

This time, Xiaomi’s 300 million U.S. dollars stake in iQIYI has allowed Baidu to join hands with millet to create an opportunity for ecological integration between hardware and software. There is also news that Baidu is investing in millet... if Baidu is deeply tied to Xiaomi, “IQI +PPS + millet, is bound to produce explosive power beyond LeTV.

As far as hardware is concerned, Xiaomi is already the largest mobile phone manufacturer in China. In terms of content, the richness of Baidu's "IQI + PPS" copyright and home-made content is not lost to any one. So, what is worth more than 1.8 billion in cash is actually the future of "Iqiyi + PPS + Xiaomi."