Kaifu Lee’s Innovation Works Invests in LeTV Subsidiary, Interested in ‘Super TV’
Readers with a sharp memory may be reading that headline and thinking, “Wait, didn’t we already know that?” and the answer is that yes, we did. Sort of. As we previously reported, Kaifu Lee announced several months ago that Innovation Works was interested in television and would invest in LeTV. Now, thanks to an official announcement from LeTV CEO Jia Yueting, we know that that transaction has been completed, and we know more details about the deal.
記憶力のよい読者は、このヘッドラインを読んで、「待てよ、前にも聞いたことがあるな。」などと思ったかもしれない。その通り。ある意味で。我々は以前に、Kaifu Leeが数か月前、Innovation Worksがテレビに興味を持ち、LeTVへ投資を行う、と発表したということを報告した。今回、LeTVのCEO、Jia Yuetingによる正式な発表があり、その処理が完了し、取引に関する詳しい情報が明らかになった。
記憶力のすぐれた読者の方は見出しを読んで「待てよ。もうこれは知っているじゃないか。」と思われたことだろう。答えは然り。その通りだ。言ってみれば。
すでにご報告した通りKaifu Lee氏は数か月前にInnovation Worksはテレビ事業に関心があり、LeTVに投資するだろうと発表した。現在、 LeTVのCEO、 Jia Yueting氏の公式発表のおかげで、取引が成立したことを知り、取引の詳細についても知ることが出来た。
In actuality, Innovation Works is investing in one of LeTV’s subsidiary companies. The company, called LeTV Zhixin, is responsible for the hardware and software for all of LeTV’s television operations (meaning the building of the LeTV super TV itself, not the operations of LeTV’s video streaming site). It’s not clear what percentage of that company is now owned by Innovation Works because both sides signed a confidentiality agreement, but LeTV Zhixin reps confirmed that the investment funds were already in hand and that the deal was totally finalized.
LeTV has been pivoting towards television hardware and software for some time now, and the company’s COO says that it hopes to do for the smart TV market what Apple did for the the smartphone market. We’ve yet to see any LeTV Super TV hardware, so it’s not clear whether the device has that kind of revolutionary potential, but the attention and investment from Kaifu Lee are certainly an indication that LeTV Zhixin is working on something interesting. We hope we get a chance to see it soon.
