On October 23, Caixin reported (Reporter: Fu Jing) "In the past, Chinese technology companies went global, either with hardware products or with internet-related services. Now we see a third opportunity for international expansion. As a hardware brand enterprise, today's TCL is no longer just selling televisions and phones, but has opened up new avenues, also venturing into software and content for international markets." Recently, in an interview with Caixin, TCL's Vice President and CEO of Thunderbird Technology, Li Hongwei, expressed this view.

Amid the wave of globalization, Chinese technology enterprises are increasingly enthusiastic about going global. TCL, which has achieved many successes in the hardware field, and its subsidiary Thunderbird Technology are targeting new overseas battlegrounds in the software domain. Caixin learned from the latest report that Thunderbird Technology's BrowseHere TV browser has nearly tens of millions of monthly active users, covering countries and regions such as Latin America, Southeast Asia, and Eastern Europe, with monthly active users in key overseas markets like Brazil reaching the million level. Li Hongwei believes that in overseas regions with good payment habits, TV browsers have tremendous commercial potential in the future.

"Growing Business" with nearly tens of millions of monthly active users.

Caixin reporters found that as of September this year, Thunderbird Technology's BrowseHere TV browser had a total download volume of 14 million+ and a monthly activity of 9.3 million+, ranking first in the TV browser category on the Google Play Store.

Li Hongwei admitted, "We are not very sure about where the ceiling of monthly active users for TV browsers lies. Globally, TV browsers are not yet as active, perhaps 30 million to 50 million monthly active users could be the ceiling, but we will aim for the highest target. The growth in monthly activity will come from the activation of new users and the improvement in retention of existing users."

It is understood that since last year, BrowseHere TV browser has been in commercial operation, and the overall advertising revenue has been growing, especially significantly in July and August this year. Li Hongwei told Caixin reporters that BrowseHere has made important progress in advertising promotion, 'starting to make the entire market accept some advertising resources on top of TCL software content, and doing well in filling the sales of the advertising system.'

"The value of our products to users and the commercial value we create are largely based on market measurement. We will use the browser as the 'base' to explore other tools, such as layout in multi-screen interaction or players,' he said.

During the interview, Li Hongwei stated that BrowseHere is a 'grown business' in the Thunderbird technology system, 'the company didn't actually initially invest a lot of energy into the browser business.' He told reporters that BrowseHere has formed deep synergies with other overseas businesses, such as TCL Channel, which can jointly promote the understanding and insights of user demands and market trends.

According to the latest report from market research firm Counterpoint Research, the global television shipment volume reached 56 million units in Q2 this year, with TCL ranking second in the world market share.

Li Hongwei told Caixin reporters that the group has provided important support to BrowseHere in underlying technology, 'the browser is actually a product between the system and the application. Its capabilities depend on what kind of support the system provides.'

Chen Zhichao, the senior product manager of BrowseHere, said in an interview with Caixin reporters, 'As the foundation of heavy research and development investment, the browser requires strong technical support. The technical support provided by TCL Industrial to the Thunderbird Technology core technical team is something that a lightweight team cannot achieve.'

What is the market pattern of TV browsers?

"It's different from the Chinese market; 70% of overseas streaming media consumption comes from television. At the same time, everyone is engaging in traditional AVOD (Advertising Video On Demand) and FAST (Free Ad-Supported Streaming TV) races, but in reality, some of the broader needs of users have not been met, including what we are doing with browsers. This is a relatively blank market,' Li Hongwei said when discussing the opportunities for TV browsers in overseas markets.

It is reported that Thunderbird Technology focuses on OTT TV (Over the Top TV, internet television). Chen Zhichao told Caixin reporters, "We surveyed the entire ecosystem of the APP and found that there are only over 0.01 million TV internet APPs, but there are over 3.7 million applications on the Android mobile end. From this perspective, there is actually a large amount of demand on the TV end that cannot be met, so we provide these services to overseas television consumers through the web."

Looking at the TV browser market, Li Hongwei believes that it is basically dominated by one or two major players. "On one hand, traditional TV manufacturers, including Samsung, LG, etc., will match their own systems with browsers, but browsers are mainly used on their own systems. On the other hand, some browser products on mobile phones or PCs, including Google Chrome, may migrate to the TV for use, but there is relatively little adaptation to TV."

Currently, Chinese manufacturers represented by TCL, Hisense, and Xiaomi occupy a key position in the global television market. According to the Counterpoint Research report, the aforementioned three manufacturers collectively held about 37% of the global market share in Q2 this year. However, Caixin reporters learned from Thunderbird Technology that as of September this year, among well-known domestic TV manufacturers, only TCL and Hisense have self-developed browsers. Currently, the BrowseHere TV browser faces direct competition mainly from Samsung and Chrome.

It is worth noting that in the interview, Chen Zhichao emphasized to reporters that over 70% of BrowseHere TV browser users are non-TCL TV users. It is reported that most users may be users of Chinese rival brands overseas, who actively download and use BrowseHere through the Google Play Store.

Furthermore, Li Hongwei told Caixin reporters that from a fundamental perspective, TV browser user habits, operation methods, and content logic are quite different from mobile browsers, with much room for development compared to the mobile end.

Li Hongwei believes that in the global browser market of about 170 billion USD, mobile and PC browsers still dominate, while the TV browser market is roughly in the range of tens of billions to hundreds of billions of USD, and "whether it is one or two hundred billion, or two or three hundred billion, three to five hundred billion, it may depend on everyone's efforts."

However, in his opinion, TV browsers have great commercial potential. "Browsers still have a relatively good commercial foundation, with good payment habits overseas. We see that in the United States, Europe, including major developed countries overseas, advertising is a rapidly growing business model."