TCL in Partnership with Tencent to Conquer Living Rooms

The biggest social media and gaming company of China, Tencent Holdings partners with TCL Corp. to conquer living rooms also. China’s biggest television maker agrees to feature the video content of Tencent on its smart TVs.

Tencent is TCL’s Second Largest Shareholder Now

Tencent has invested 450 million yuan in Shenzhen Thunderbird Network Technology (which is a subsidiary of TCL). This makes the social media and gaming company the second largest shareholder of TCL. It accounts for a total of 16.67 percent of its total stakes. 

It is not the first time that Tencent has invested in smart TVs. Back in June of this year, it also has invested 300 million yuan (accounts for 7.71 percent of the total stakes) in Coocaa (a subsidiary of Skyworth Digital Holdings, and a rival of TCL).

Capitalizing on Smart TVs

Tencent will feature its entertainment content via TCL’s internet-connected TVs. These products are equipped with voice control and customized search functionalities to aid users. 

TCL has a proven track record in the field of smart TVs. Last year, it was able to ship 20 million LCD TV sets. This made the company rank as the third largest liquid crystal display TV maker according to IHS Technology. The first in the list are Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics.  

Over-the-Top-Services as the New Trend

Zhao Gang, General Manager of the Living Room Products Department at Tencent Video, is affirming that Tencent will maximize the so-called over-the-top-services since it is advantageous on its part. It will advance its video and movie content services compared to the offered deals of traditional telecommunications companies.  

Zhao also confirms that Tencent was not into moving manufacturing hardware. “We would never touch hardware production. We want to be a supporter and enabler of our partner.”

Tencent’s Video Unit

Since Tencent is China’s biggest online video streaming website, it has a wide array of entertainment content including live sports copyright and own video productions that it hopes would be accessed by its clients. When such happens, it can help increase the membership bases and the revenue of the company. 

Right now, TCL has 20 million users for its smart TVs. 

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