Author | Huang Yu Editor | Liu Baodan Last year, thanks to the success of the "Speeding" on iQiyi, the company has had a difficult time recently. On the one hand, the explosively popular TV series is on hiatus, and on the other hand, the derivative concert of the variety show "Plant Some Goodness" has been criticized for "free offline but paid online." According to Wall Street News, the second Wheat Field Music Festival, produced by iQiyi's reality show "Plant Some Goodness," was held on June 6th. Some viewers had previously received free offline tickets through official activities, while online viewers, even iQiyi members, had to pay RMB 12 for viewing, and the viewing period was valid until June 14th. This differentiated pricing model has caused dissatisfaction among many viewers, who question that iQiyi's move is "cutting corners." In response, iQiyi's customer service said, "You can buy tickets to watch the concert live according to your own needs, and the edited content of the concert will be launched on the main platform in the future." In fact, this is not the first time that long video platforms represented by iQiyi have been accused of "cutting corners." In recent years, membership grading systems, early access, and inventory restrictions have often caused user backlash, in addition to paying extra for derivative programs. The differential pricing model reflects the growth anxiety faced by long-form video platforms such as "i优腾."

In today's weather is good. Today's weather is good.

The esports display industry, once seen as niche, has now burst with undeniable vitality.

On July 26th, at ChinaJoy, the most influential annual event in the Chinese gaming industry, Zhao Jun, CEO of TCL Huaxing, revealed that while the market projected that shipments of esports displays would increase by about 10%, TCL Huaxing's shipments of esports display panels had actually grown by about 20% in the first half of the year. Currently, esports displays account for more than 50% of all display products in TCL Huaxing.

In the face of this now-pillar subcategory, TCL Huaxing continues to ramp up its efforts, showcasing its solid strength in esports displays to the outside world.

ChinaJoy, a venue where TCL Huaxing can engage directly with a wide array of esports and gaming enthusiasts, has become an important battlefield for TCL Huaxing to break out of the enclosure in the esports display field. From 2021 to 2024, TCL Huaxing has continued to participate in ChinaJoy.

At the 2024 ChinaJoy, TCL Huaxing exhibited a variety of esports displays, notebooks, game TVs, and esports phone screens, and hosted events such as TCL Huaxing technology releases, Lenovo HVA professional esports product releases, and AOC monitor new product releases.

HVA technology is the key to TCL Huaxing's leadership position in the esports display industry. Compared to traditional MVA and PVA technologies, TCL Huaxing's independently developed HVA technology has the characteristics of high refresh rate, fast response, high curvature, high contrast, and low power consumption.

Claire, director of TCL Huaxing's MNT product department, gave a detailed introduction to HVA's "three high and one fast" (high contrast, high curvature, high refresh rate, and fast response) black technology. At the same time, TCL Huaxing announced that it would focus on the trend of AI gaming era and continuously explore AI display to provide gamers with better gaming experience.

It was revealed that TCL Huaxing and Lenovo jointly released the Lenovo HVA professional esports gaming machine and the new Savior 24.5" FHD 280Hz R25f-30 esports display. The product is equipped with a TCL Huaxing HVA panel, with a maximum refresh rate of 280Hz and a response time of 1ms GTG (0.5ms MPRT).

As a global semiconductor display leader, TCL Huaxing, founded in 2009, started with large-sized LCD TV screens and previously focused mainly on TV and mobile-related display panels. In 2019, TCL Huaxing started to enter the medium-sized esports display market, which is mainly produced by the Suzhou Huaxing factory.

In recent years, with the rapid rise of the esports industry, the demand for esports display screens has grown rapidly and has shown an eye-catching growth trend, expanding continuously in the overall panel industry which is recovering slowly.

According to a report by Lotte Tech, in the first half of 2024, the online public retail sales of esports displays in mainland China (excluding content e-commerce platforms such as Douyin and Kuaishou) amounted to 2.69 million units, a year-on-year increase of 30%. The total sales volume for the year is expected to reach 5.33 million units, an increase of 21.5% year-on-year.

At the same time, in the first half of this year, the penetration rate of esports products in the overall display online market reached a new high, soaring to 59%.

Lotte Tech's analysis shows that there are three main reasons for the rapid growth of the esports market. First, the fundamental aspect, esports events are accelerating globally; Second, esports display prices are rapidly becoming more affordable; Third, the overall performance of displays continues to rise, with refresh rates iterating from 144Hz and 165Hz to 180Hz and even higher.

In this thriving segment, TCL Huaxing's esports displays have continuously held the global market share for several quarters, with a market share of roughly 30% or more.

Propelled by the esports display business, TCL Technology, TCL Huaxing's parent company, forecasts that net income attributable to shareholders of listed companies in the first half of 2024 will be between CNY 0.95 billion and CNY 1.05 billion, an increase of 180% to 210% year-on-year. After deducting non-recurring gains and losses, net income is expected to be between CNY 0.5 billion and CNY 0.6 billion, compared to a net loss of CNY 0.6 billion in the same period last year.

TCL Technology also stated: "In the first half of the year, the display business is expected to achieve a net profit of CNY 2.58 billion to CNY 2.88 billion, an improvement of over CNY 6 billion year-on-year. The company will continue to firmly implement its strategy of large-size and high-end displays, accelerate the expansion of medium-sized IT and automotive business, enhance its market position in small-sized displays, and expand into the VR/AR and specialized display markets."

Obviously, in the absence of significant improvement in demand in the television industry, emerging display fields such as esports have become an important source of growth for TCL Huaxing.