Internet TV Box: a race between technology and regulation

Guide: "During Double Eleven, one of our stores can sell 1,000 of these boxes per hour, just like selling vegetables." Standing at the small counter less than 5 square meters in the Huaqiangbei SEG Electronic Market, one The vendor of a copycat set-top box is in a good mood. Set-top boxes, a product that has existed for many years but have not entered the market, have recently been enthusiastically sought after by consumers.

TV, a market far less popular than mobile phones and tablets, is now full of players. Hardware manufacturers, Internet TV operators, and video websites are coming in one after another, and now even copycat manufacturers are not far behind. A war without gunpowder is quietly unfolding in people's living rooms and bedrooms.

Not long ago, the high-profile launch of the Xiaomi Mi Box was quickly halted, and these gold prospectors in the TV market were suddenly awakened-this is still an area with very strict policy control.

However, many people hope to use technology to break the barriers of policy. Many industry insiders pointed out that with the maturity of new-generation technologies such as multi-screen interaction, Internet videos on mobile phones and tablets in the future can be easily and seamlessly synchronized to be played on TVs. In the future, set-top boxes controlled by policies may no longer be useful. From the perspective of current development trends, in the future, mobile phones may be set-top boxes and tablet computers may be set-top boxes.

This may make subtle changes in policy supervision in this area.

A race between technology and policy has already begun.

Knockoff box is secretly popular

"After the Xiaomi box was stopped, some large set-top box manufacturers were very nervous." The boss of an Internet TV set-top box manufacturer in Shenzhen told reporters, because these manufacturers have been on the edge of legality and illegality for many years.

According to the regulations of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, the sale of Internet TV set-top boxes in China requires the codes of license holders such as Wasu and BesTV. However, there are a large number of counterfeit set-top boxes without any license on the market.

The reporter bought a set-top box of a certain Shenzhen brand in Huaqiangbei, Shenzhen for 500 yuan, and connected to the Internet with a network cable or wifi, and then you can smoothly watch Youku, Tudou, Thunder, PPTV, Iqiyi, LeTV and many other video sites. High-definition video content, you can also watch live TV broadcasts from many overseas TV stations, and the content is very rich.

The founder of a copycat box company in Shenzhen told reporters that the launch of the Mi Box has greatly stimulated the sales of the copycat box market. "In the past, people didn't know that there was such a thing."

The reporter saw on Taobao that a large number of Internet set-top boxes and TV sticks priced at 100 to 500 yuan are selling well, and the famous "picturesque" set-top boxes in this circle even put the slogan "Hot 30,000 units". According to the reporter's understanding, the relatively large-scale manufacturers of Internet TV set-top boxes in China include Golden Asia Pacific, Meiruhua, Egreat, etc., and most of them are concentrated in Shenzhen.

Another product similar to a set-top box is a TV Dongle, which is actually a broad set-top box, which looks like a USB flash drive. As long as it is plugged into the USB interface of the TV, the TV can be used to surf the Internet via Wifi. Watch rich video content.

These knockoff boxes mostly use the Android system. The reason why they have very rich content is that, technically speaking, many Android video software are integrated into the box and then played on the TV.

How big is the output of this kind of unlicensed box?

Shao Yiding, chairman of Youpengpule, estimated to reporters that the annual shipment of domestic knockoff boxes does not exceed 2 million.

The boss of a box manufacturer in Shenzhen also estimated that the monthly shipment of boxes in the entire copycat market is about 100,000.

Due to concerns about the crackdown by the relevant authorities, most copycat box manufacturers are "conscious" and strictly restrict video content not allowed by the state, but only aggregate the content of legal websites such as Youku, Tudou, Sohu, and LeTV on the Internet.

"The box is an opportunity for small factories." said a senior person in the Shenzhen electronics circle. In the field of Internet TV set-top boxes, such a situation has formed, and manufacturers will die as soon as they become bigger. The Mi Box is a typical example, because it was too high-profile and was strangled in the bud. However, those low-key small and medium-sized set-top boxes are quite popular among the people.

Internet TV player

At the 2012 Internet Audiovisual Industry Forum that just ended in Shanghai, Internet TV is probably the hottest topic, and almost all speakers must call it Internet TV.

Throughout 2012, a large number of players began to work on Internet TV. On January 5, BesTV and Lenovo launched the first Internet TV set-top box. On January 11, LeTV and CNTV reached an agreement on Internet TV services, and launched the LeTV TV3D cloud video ultra-clear machine on February 16. On September 24, LeTV launched its own TV terminal product "Super TV." On November 14, Xiaomi launched the Mi Box with a high profile, and then announced on November 23 that it would stop service due to "system maintenance". On December 3, Skyworth, Southern Media, and Youpenpule jointly announced the launch of a "through Hollywood" service, selling rechargeable cards to users to watch high-definition movies on TV.

After the rise of video sites such as Youku, Tudou, Sohu, LeTV, Xunleikan, PPS, etc., TV ratings were once greatly impacted. People used computers or mobile phones to watch TV series online, which greatly affected the business of TV stations.

However, the use of TV to watch online high-definition video online is still in its infancy in China.

Many industry insiders pointed out to reporters that in the area of ​​network high-definition long video, TV will still be the dominant player in the future. "Watching blurry videos on PCs and mobile phones is like eating a fast meal, while watching high-definition videos is like drinking chicken soup," said Yiding Shao, CEO of Youpengpuler.

"High-definition video content playback, I think there will be an obvious trend in the next three to five years, that is, their final playback terminal must be on the family TV." Xunlei Kan CEO Liu Feng pointed out, because of so many years of habit. Later, people prefer to watch videos on the sofa or on the bed.

From the perspective of international development trends, Internet TV is gradually replacing IPTV as the mainstream online HD TV video development direction.

At present, there are two forms of Internet TV, one is to use the TV to go online directly (also known as Internet TV or smart TV), and the other is to use the Internet TV set-top box to match the traditional TV. In contrast, the latter has lower cost and faster replacement.

According to the "2012 China Internet Audiovisual Industry Report", as of the end of 2011, the number of Internet TV set-top box users in China was 3 million.

However, in China, Internet TV is currently a very strict field of national policy control. According to the "Circular 181" of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, users must go through the broadcast control platform of the seven major licensees to access all the film and television programs on the Internet through the TV.

The seven major licensees are CNTV, BesTV, Wasu, Southern Media, Hunan Radio and Television, China Radio International and China National Radio, all of which are radio and television enterprises.

These radio and television companies also need to find more competitive Internet companies to help them make profits.

The Circular 181 of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television clearly stipulates that “Internet TV integration platforms cannot be linked to websites set up on the public Internet, and content on the public Internet cannot be directly provided to users.” The industry generally believes that the Mi Box is offending. This prohibition was "stopped video service."

At present, Internet TV operators such as LeTV and YoupenPule need to find licensees for cooperation. LeTV cooperated with CNTV, and Youpenpule and Southern Media established a joint venture company.

Shao Yiding told reporters that by the end of next year, Unipod will grow to at least 2 million users, and hopes to grow to 10 million users in 2015. And hope to use this to form a new strong channel on TV, for example, into a network of movie theaters on TV.

Will technological upgrades impact regulation?

The reporter visited some technical people and found that with the maturity of multi-screen transmission technology, the content on mobile phones and tablets in the future will be easily and seamlessly synchronized to be played on the TV-these technologies will make the Internet TV landscape again subtle changes .

On September 19, 2012, the Wifi Alliance announced the launch of a certification project called "Miracast", which makes video transmission between TVs and mobile phones and tablets very convenient.

The owner of a Shenzhen-based manufacturer of Miracast transmission software told reporters that just plug in a TV stick on the TV, and after pairing the phone with the TV, the network video content in the phone can be seamlessly played on the TV.

The principle is to find the high-definition video source of a certain video website with a mobile phone, and pass this link to the TV, and the TV with a TV stick can directly open the network link to watch the high-definition video, so it can also be played on the TV. Be very clear.

The TV stick is currently developing in the direction of mobile phone accessories, that is, after buying a smart phone, people can buy a TV stick to push the screen on the phone to the TV for playback.

Xunlei Kan also said that the company is gradually realizing the seamless link of high-definition content across terminals. Liu Feng believes that this is also a major development trend of the future video industry. "We believe that in the future, mobile and PC terminals can achieve seamless connection of high-definition content to TV sets." CEO Liu Feng said that by then, laptops, tablets, and mobile phones may be a box.

Compared with Internet TV, which is strictly regulated, the advantage of transmitting mobile phone network video to TV is that there is very rich content on the Internet.

The seamless connection between mobile phones and TVs may also make the current domestic Internet TV regulatory policies more subtle, because it is difficult for the relevant authorities to prevent users from transmitting the content on their mobile phones to the TV for playback. At that time, many PC Internet video websites could directly enter the TV market that has not been able to enter. These websites do not require a license but can actually extend their reach to the Internet TV field.

At the same time, the emergence of these new technologies will change the fate of Internet TV operators who spend their money to get through licenses, channels, and copyrights.

Because the gameplay of Internet TV and traditional video sites is completely different. At present, PC video sites such as Youku, Tudou, Sohu, and iQiyi have gone farther and farther on the road of "free + advertising", and few users are willing to pay. The Internet TV business, which has just started, hopes to make a profit through fees.

At present, Internet TV operators such as Youpenpule and LeTV hope to charge for content on TV. Once HD free video content on mobile phones and PCs can be conveniently and seamlessly broadcast on TVs, it may also hinder Internet TV manufacturers from asking users. The process of collecting money.

The CEO of Youpenpule, Shao Yiding, doesn't seem to worry about this. He said that when people go home and turn on the TV to watch movies directly, it is simpler than the steps that users have to connect to the TV through their mobile phones or PCs. Therefore, there are still a large number of users who choose Internet TV. He insisted that, due to different technologies such as streaming media, the smoothness of Internet TV playback is better than that of mobile phone network videos that can be watched on TV.

Some insiders pointed out that the user experience of Internet TV is also constantly improving. In the future, these two methods may coexist for a long time. "This market is big enough."

An executive of Youpenpuler told reporters that the video content on mobile phones and PCs has not been broadcast on TV in large numbers. Once this situation becomes a climate, the regulatory authorities will inevitably find ways to control them.

So, in what ways will the radio and television industry manage these new technologies in the future? There are different opinions in the industry.

The founder of a copycat box manufacturer in Shenzhen stated that theoretically, the regulatory authorities cannot prevent users from synchronizing the content on their mobile phones to the TV for playback, "unless the mobile phones are blocked."

In addition, film and television copyright owners must also have a lot of criticism for broadcasting large amounts of high-definition content on mobile phones on TV, because film and television copyrights often only authorize the copyright on PCs and mobile phones, but do not authorize their copyright on TV.

This race between regulation and technology may be long.

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