Internet TV box is the TV's savior?

Mountain darkly, vista. This is a true portrayal of the current television industry. The operating rate of TVs in Beijing has fallen by 37% in the past three years. New products such as smart TVs and 3D TVs have not recovered. However, at the same time, through the Internet, such programs as "China Good Voice" are known to everyone. Recently, some chip companies have begun to pay attention to the network TV box market that had been left out for a long time. The warming of such products has also led to an increase in the operating rate. Why do these products turn from cold to hot?

Network TV box market is booming

Related surveys show that the crowd watching TV is shrinking and there is an aging trend. Most young people no longer watch TV. A survey conducted by a third party organization for Changhong shows that the rate of nighttime TV operation in Beijing has dropped from 75% at the end of 2008 to 38% at the end of 2011. According to a report from the DCCI Internet Data Center, national television ratings fell by 13% in 2011, and 40 million people said they will no longer watch TV. "I'm not going to watch TV now, but my parents are watching," said Zhang Shirong, general manager of sales at Tianjin Shengteng Technology Co., Ltd.

In contrast, some TV programs are extremely hot. According to the latest statistics from Youku, “China Good Voice” received 170 million clicks on Youku and Tudou. As of press time, “Thank you for nothing” of Tianjin TV on January 9, 2012 received 30,660 video on demand on PPS Internet TV; recently , Google United NBC announced the 2012 London Olympics viewing data: NBC video playback duration of 20 million hours.

Originally, it was a television program but it was connected to the Internet through a computer. The reason was that TV programs could not be ordered on demand and the time was fixed. When they were free, they might not be able to see the programs they wanted to watch.

As long as there is a network at home, you can watch and order on-demand programs on TV at any time. Products called "Internet TV boxes" are saving TV. Search Taobao for "Internet TV Box" with a total of 7473 items. Sales of R5 TV boxes ranked first in terms of single-store sales were 1,766 in August, and 1,227 in the same month, which was ranked second; Kaiboer K355i ranked third in sales of 1,078 units in the month. "It's very good and very powerful." Taobao buyer h7850 gives such a rating. The buyer ck0807 said: “Buying the fourth one is as good as ever.” The reporter visited several households in Xiyuan, and Xiaoliang said: “With Internet TV set-top boxes, I can’t go to Internet cafes to watch videos.”

The survey found that such products were well received due to their simple operation and ease of use. Xiao Sun, who works in Beijing for operation and maintenance, said: "TV programs, movies and TV programs can be ordered on demand. I go to work and watch my favorite TV programs with my girlfriend. It is no longer limited by time. My old family has a network cable to buy my parents. One."

Similarly, products that can be connected to the Internet with devices such as mobile phones and tablet computers, and the contents are displayed on televisions are also getting hotter. “The original intention of doing this product was to watch my daughter kneeling on the iPad and worry about her eyes and spine.” Wang Xin, who is a technical background, is very forthright. “If she is allowed to do the same thing on the big screen, she’s The body is much better.” As the founder of Fastcast, Wang Xin is currently working on the big screen of fast broadcasting that is able to transmit multimedia content (high-definition video, audio, pictures, games, etc.) from mobile phones and tablet computers to televisions for appreciation. The product.

One issue that merits attention is that such products have emerged several years ago. Why did they turn from cold to hot at this time?

Sudden outbreak of demand

"One is the application of content, the second is television terminals, the third is network bandwidth, and the fourth is policy barriers." Wang An, a senior analyst at CCID Consulting's Consumer Electronics Industry Research Center, believes that solving these four problems is to develop Internet TV. The essential.

At present, the program resources that the Internet can watch are becoming more and more abundant. China Network Television (CNTV) owns channels provided by all CCTV channels, 38 national video channels, 83 urban channels, and 708 content providers from the Internet Audiovisual Alliance. In addition to the simultaneous viewing of programs being broadcast on TV, popular shows such as "China Good Voice" can be broadcast on the Internet at any time. These content platforms also provide rich content resources for related products. A certain set-top box on the market provides more than a dozen platforms for online viewing, including a large number of high-definition movies and TV shows on demand, network television broadcasts, MTV music on demand, seven days of television programs to watch, users share, hit the top rankings and so on.

So much HD content playback requires a certain amount of network carrying capacity. The copper cable change cable project being implemented in many places has on the other hand boosted demand growth. Starting this year, the deployment of large-scale "brick-back copper" deployments initiated by operators has begun. Many communities have already implemented fiber-optic access. The improvement of network conditions also satisfies the needs of network TV boxes.

At the same time, the increase in the price/performance ratio of set-top boxes has also stimulated consumer demand. Currently, the cost of a processor with an ARM A9 core and a frequency of 1 GHz is only about 15 dollars. A set-top box that can smoothly decode high-definition video costs between 200 yuan and 400 yuan.

The fast-launched smart playback large screen has a cortex-A9 1GHz CPU and a high capacity of 8GB. Its price has not yet been determined, but Wang Xin said: “It will definitely be cheaper.” said Zhengzheng Liu, owner of the Shenzhen SEG Tower set-top box store. : "The same TV box, sold for about 1,500 yuan two years ago, is now selling for about 500 yuan, of course, the function has also increased."

Xinyuxian Computer System Chip Co., Ltd. Zhang Yu'an revealed: "The new shoreline is about to launch a miniature TV stick with a low-power NS115 dual-core chip with a 40nm process, Cortex A9 architecture and a frequency of 1.5GHz. It will carry Android 4.0.3. Smart operating system. Connect it to the flat-screen TV in your home and turn an ordinary TV into a smart TV with Android 4.0 operating system."

However, people cannot help but question that smart TVs can also connect to the Internet. Why do these extra products enrich their functions?

Misunderstanding of smart TV

"I personally think that the smart TV's road is a little off." Wang Xin believes that it is the smart TV's own mistakes, leaving room for the development of network TV set-top boxes.

In recent years, from domestic to foreign countries, Internet companies and TV manufacturers are actively developing smart TVs. From traditional TVs to open, personalized smart TVs have become irreversible. According to the “Investigation Report on Smart TV Consumers' Cognition and Demand in 2012” conducted by the China Electronic Chamber of Commerce, smart TV became a hot spot for Chinese and foreign TV companies in 2012.

However, smart TVs are often tangled up in Internet services and do not work hard on the key function of watching TV. TV manufacturers want to use the Internet to give television more features to attract television viewers. Konka 8000 series smart TVs can send Weibo. The icescreen ice cream smart TV developed jointly by TCL and Tencent can be used on QQ, pass photos and watch videos. Haier Casa Dee “Cloud PAD” can realize the interaction between TV and tablet, enabling consumers to "Look" TV to "play" TV. The main interface has so many features that the options for watching and on-demand programming are quietly submerged in the "luxury" menu.

In contrast, the functions of the Internet TV boxes are more single and focused, and most of them only provide TV viewing functions. Some products also enable the sharing of content, but the theme is still focused on the main function of television - watching video content. This is a seemingly single function, but it has been recognized by users. "In my own case, I don't want to use smart TVs to social networking sites. Those are very personal things. The key is sharing of content. Smart TVs need to be changed in order to make them truly intelligent and diverse. a family entertainment center.Quickly broadcast the emergence of the big screen even if it can slightly accelerate this change, I think the fast broadcast is worth doing." Wang Xin said.