Xiaomi invests $300 million in iQiyi and acquires stake in Youku Tudou

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According to the report of China Business Daily, the $1 billion content investment fund prepared by Xiaomi for Chen Tong has found its first destination, which is invested in the top video websites iQiyi and Youku Tudou. Among them, iQiyi, which is wholly owned by Baidu, is the largest shareholder introduced by Xiaomi. Xiaomi invested about $300 million in it, and Baidu also invested about the same amount.

Unlike the strategic investment in iQiyi, Xiaomi may purchase shares of Youku in the secondary market, and the amount is expected to be in the tens of millions of dollars. Both transactions will be officially announced in the near future. If the rumors are true, this will be the largest investment in Xiaomi's four years of existence.

From the perspective of Xiaomi's investment motivation, first of all, investing in iQiyi and Youku is a shortcut to obtain massive content. In addition, Xiaomi can indirectly obtain the Galaxy Internet license jointly established by iQiyi, China National Radio, Jiangsu Television, etc., as well as the license holder Guoguang Fangfang, in which Youku invested 50 million yuan this year, plus CNTV, which is a triple license guarantee.

When Xiaomi Box was first launched, it was urgently stopped by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television due to license issues. Last year and this year, Xiaomi was sued for infringement by Hunan Satellite TV, Youku and LeTV. These lawsuits sounded the alarm for Xiaomi. Now that the video website landscape has been basically established, the radio and television departments have strict supervision on the violations of TV boxes. If Xiaomi does not have the support of the content of several major video websites, it will be difficult to make a good box and TV, and it will be difficult to build Xiaomi's ecosystem.

No wonder Lei Jun said,

"The entire content industry is a matter of life and death for Xiaomi TV, Xiaomi Box, Xiaomi mobile phone, and Xiaomi tablet." "Otherwise, if we have such a well-made TV but our content is not rich enough, consumers will complain a lot. Therefore, solving the content problem has become an urgent issue for Xiaomi."

Old Chen is still the resolute old Chen of Sina. This new official has only been in office for a week, and he has spent more than 300 million of the 1 billion US dollars. At this rate, this 1 billion US dollars will not last long. Although today is Double Eleven, Old Chen, you should take it easy!