Former Baofeng TV CEO Liu Yaoping joins Xiaomi TV department

      There are rumors that Liu Yaoping, the former CEO of Baofeng TV, has joined Xiaomi. 36Kr has sought confirmation from Xiaomi Group as to whether Liu Yaoping has joined Xiaomi and what position he will hold. As of press time, no response has been received.

　　However, 36Kr confirmed from an insider close to Xiaomi that Liu Yaoping has joined the management center of Xiaomi TV department, but his specific position is unknown.

　　36Kr saw on Liu Yaoping’s personal Weibo homepage that Liu Yaoping posted a Weibo at 13:04 on May 7th, showing a picture of a millet porridge breakfast. The phone he used was Xiaomi 10, and the location was Qinghe, where Xiaomi is located.

　　This Weibo post sparked speculation from the outside world about Liu Yaoping joining Xiaomi, and many netizens asked about it in the comment section, but Liu Yaoping himself did not respond.

　　Public information shows that Liu Yaoping has worked in Skyworth Group and Baofeng Group successively. He has served as vice president of Skyworth Group's color TV business unit and CEO of Baofeng TV. He has rich experience in the field of Internet TV. In addition to leading Baofeng TV to compete with Xiaomi TV and LeTV TV, Liu Yaoping also launched the Internet TV brand "Coocaa" during his time at Skyworth.

　　Liu Yaoping is also the second former "friendly competitor" executive recruited by Xiaomi after Chang Cheng. This list was once ridiculed as the "Avengers":

       Lu Weibing, current Vice President of Xiaomi Group, President of China, General Manager of Redmi Brand, former President of Gionee;

　　Chang Cheng, current vice president of Xiaomi Group, former vice president of Lenovo Group and head of mobile phone business;

　　Wang Xiaoyan, current Vice President of Xiaomi China and General Manager of Sales Department 2, former founder and general manager of Xiaomi Xiaolajit Mobile;

　　Miao Lei, current director of Xiaomi's mobile phone camera department, former co-founder and vice president of Nubia;

　　Liu Yaoping, current position unknown, former CEO of Baofeng TV.

　　According to data from iiMedia Research, the penetration rate of smart products in China's color TV market reached 97.7% in 2019, making it the home appliance category with the highest smart penetration rate. This means that the divisions between Internet TVs, traditional TVs, smart screens, etc. are more of a conceptual level, and in product market competition, all brands are on the same starting line.

　　Xiaomi, which has already become one of the leaders in the Chinese TV market, will also face fierce competition from traditional brands such as Hisense, Skyworth, Haier, TCL and new entrants such as Huawei and Honor. Liu Yaoping's joining may increase the combat effectiveness of Xiaomi TV.