Xiaomi set to invest $1 billion in Internet TV

By Kyle Wiggers November 4, 2014

windows 10 custom rom for xiaomi phones news

What is a company to do after rapidly becoming the world’s third largest smartphone maker? If you’re Xiaomi, expand your market reach to intangibles, apparently. In a blog post today on Chinese social media site Weibo, the manufacturer announced its plan to invest $1 billion in Internet TV content.

The post avoided specifics, but imparted Xiaomi’s desire “to repeat [its] success […] in the television industry.” As part of the strategy, the company has hired Chen Tong, a former executive at Chinese internet firm Sina Corp. Tong will work with Chuan Wang, Xiaomi’s director for Internet TV related products, to make the division more “diverse and exciting,” the blog post said.

Related: Xiaomi topples Samsung to take top spot in China smartphone market

The move comes at a period of incredible profitability for Xiaomi, which essentially dominates the low- and mid-range smartphone and tablet market in China. The company pocketed $2.16 billion in revenue over the first half of 2014, and is projecting next-year handset sales of well over 100 million.

The success of its smartphones has come at the expense of the Xiaomi’s television unit, which has languished. The company sells a set-top box and software solution, Xiamoi TV, but neither have performed spectacularly. Today’s announcement signals an intention to nab a larger slice of the Internet TV market, which consultancy group iResearch estimates is worth nearly $3 billion.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Audio / Video

Music

How to cancel Spotify Premium on your desktop or iOS device

The app screen on Spotify that says Cancel Premium.

Spotify is the world's most popular music and podcast streaming service for a reason. It has a catalog of over 100 million songs, the interface is fun and easy to use, and it's full of features that allow for music discovery, great playlist creation, and sharing. And while its main Achilles heel is that it doesn't offer higher resolution audio like many of its competitors such as Apple Music, Tidal, and Amazon Music, it's Premium tiers are reasonably priced at between $10 and $16 per month. So why would anyone want to cancel Spotify?

Mobile

I love the Galaxy S23 — here are 5 things the iPhone still does better

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra and Apple iPhone 14 Pro

Samsung’s Galaxy S23 has arrived to the masses, and it’s one of the best Android phones you can get right now, especially the S23 Ultra. However, for those who don’t need all of the fancy bells and whistles, like the S Pen and 200MP main camera, the regular S23 is also plenty powerful for the average person, especially if you prefer smaller devices.

I’ve been using the Galaxy S23 for the past few weeks, and so far, my experience has been delightful. I know that it’s still early on in the year, but for me, the S23’s small size is perfect and comfortable. Android also does a lot of things better than iOS, like individual volume controls and notifications, for example. But I am still primarily using my iPhone 14 Pro — despite Apple having some big flaws, such as overprocessing images after you capture them.

Mobile

5 things we’d love to see at Google I/O 2023 (but probably won’t)

Google Pixel Watch on a wrist.

Google's annual developer conference, Google I/O, kicks off on May 10. Don't let the words "developer conference" put you off, though, as Google I/O is one of the biggest and most exciting shows of the year.

We've already covered what we expect to see at Google I/O 2023, and that list includes the Pixel 7a, Android 14, and even a Google Pixel Fold. But although those are all things we're really looking forward to and expecting to see, there are a number of reveals we'd also love to happen ... but are extremely unlikely to appear on the grand stage.