Tencent Holdings, China's largest social media and gaming company, agreed on Wednesday to feature its video content on the smart TVs of China's biggest television maker TCL Corp to expand its content dominance from mobile phones to living rooms. Under an agreement announced on Wednesday that followed Tencent's capital injection into a TCL unit, Tencent will pre-load its entertainment content onto TCL's internet-connected, or smart TVs, which feature voice control and customised search recommendations.
On Monday, Tencent agreed to invest 450 million yuan ($66.18 million) in TCL subsidiary Shenzhen Thunderbird Network Technology, making Tencent the second-largest shareholder with a 16.67 percent stake in the subsidiary behind TCL's FFALCON brand internet TVs.
TCL shipped 20 million LCD TV sets in 2016, half of them smart TVs. That makes it the world's third-largest liquid crystal display TV maker behind Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, according to IHS Technology.
Tencent would work with TCL on extending its advantage in delivering online content to delivering so-called over-the-top services, said Zhao Gang, general manager of the living room products department at Tencent Video. Zhao was referring to content services, such as movies and video, provided by internet companies beyond the media transmitted by traditional telecommunications companies like cable operators. Streaming content provided by Netflix Inc and through Apple Inc's Apple TV devices are examples of over-the-top services.