Youku Tudou, Xiaomi collaborate

Youku Tudou will partner Xiaomi in media and entertainment content covering an ecosystem of devices such as smartphone, tablet and digital TV, in a deal that aims to better serve several hundred millions of users.

Youku Tudou, China's top Internet video provider, and Xiaomi, which ranked No. 1 in the domestic smartphone market by September, will jointly invest in the production and distribution of online video content and movies as well as develop multi-screen online video services. Xiaomi will invest in Youku Tudou by acquiring the latter's stock in the open market.

"Mobile Internet is a catalyst and amplifier for our business," Victor Koo, chairman and CEO of Youku Tudou, said yesterday in Shanghai. "Youku Tudou needs partners like Xiaomi to build a complete ecosystem and offer better services for users."

The tie-up is seen as a win-win cooperation between two giants of content and devices, analysts said.

With over 500 million daily video views, Youku Tudou now aims to offer content for more screens covering handset, tablet, computer, TV and film.

Youku Tudou's cooperation with Alibaba on big-data analysis will help it know more about users and seek potential opportunities, said Koo, who called it like "cooperation of Amazon and Google (YouTube's parent)."

It was the first content expansion for Xiaomi after it unveiled last week a new investment fund of US$1 billion for content, and appointed former Sina.com Editor-in-Chief Chen Tong as vice president for content investment and operations.

In the third quarter, Xiaomi became the world's third-biggest smartphone vendor behind Samsung and Apple, said IDC and Strategy Analytics.