Lenovo joins forces with Shanghai Oriental Media Group

The PC maker establishes JV with BesTV in mobile internet cloud video service.

Lenovo Group on Thursday signed a strategic agreement with Shanghai Oriental Media Group Limited (SMG, formerly Shanghai Media Group) and its Shanghai Radio & Television Station to cooperate in mobile Internet video services. The two sides will utilize their respective advantages in devices, cloud computing, content, marketing and other areas to jointly develop the Chinese mobile Internet and digital home markets. As part of the deal, group subsidiary Lenovo (Beijing) Co., Ltd. and SMG’s BesTV established a joint venture called Shiyun Network Tech.

Lenovo CEO Yang Yuanqing said: "This agreement will marry the most innovative products from Lenovo with the best in mainstream Chinese cultural content from SMG. The mobile Internet and digital home sector are key to our future, and this partnership marks an important step toward our success in these fields.”

Chief of Shanghai Radio & Television Station, SMG’s President Li Ruigang said: "The cooperation with Lenovo reflects both sides’ leading positions in their markets. Lenovo is the world's leading IT vendor, and Shanghai Oriental Media Group has many years of new media experience and an extensive user base. We hope that, through our strong partnership, we can grow the market size and value of new media, taking the lead in China’s smart devices and interactive new media sectors and the first step toward establishing a global position."

Zhang Dazhong, Executive Deputy Director of Shanghai Radio & Television Station, vice president of SMG, and Liu Jun, Senior Vice President of Lenovo Group and President of Lenovo’s Mobile Internet and the Digital Home Business Group, signed the cooperation agreement on behalf of their companies. Based on the agreement, Lenovo’s Internet TV devices will benefit from SMG’s rich, high-definition and high quality audio-visual content from around the world. SMG’s content will also be available on Lenovo’s mobile Internet devices, including PCs, Internet phones and tablet computers.

Lenovo, the world’s fourth-largest PC maker, aims to use the partnership to build on its expertise in producing mobile Internet devices and providing a cloud application service platform for its consumers. It therefore will create China's first genuine video cloud across Internet television, personal computers, tablet PCs and Internet phones, bringing a multi-screen interactive experience to consumers, according to a Lenovo report.

The joint venture will focus on the intelligent upgrading of media based on the mobile Internet, intelligent devices and cloud computing. It will make use of the BesTV national service platform, which has access to hundreds of content providers. BesTV will hold 51% of the shares in the joint venture, and Lenovo 49%.