Chinese Internet company LeEco (formerly LeTV) has teamed up with six local automotive firms to develop a vehicle infotainment ecosystem, the Shanghai Daily reported on Thursday, March 17.
The report said that the partnerships are part of a plan to extend the Internet firm's influence from video streaming platform to consumer electronics and eventually to cars.
According to the report, Chinese carmakers BAIC, BYD and Dongfeng, as well as local infotainment system producers like ADAYO, HSAE, DESAY SV, will use LeEco technology called Ecolink, which integrates content from car-connected smartphones into a vehicle's head unit.
Lee Zhao, vice president of Le Auto Telematics in charge of Ecolink, said that since the in-vehicle infotainment has no communication modules and data plans of its own, Ecolink will make use of smartphones technology as easily updatable devices.
An all-around infotainment system for vehicles is seen as the next focal point of competition for carmakers around the world who would like to extend their role from manufacturers to mobility service providers throughout a car's life cycle.
The infotainment system offers a wide variety of location-based services, entertainment, communication and safety warnings for travel, the report said.
The report added that Ford's Applink, the existing equivalent of EcoLink, has offered the car's dashboard for third-party developers to design car-enabled smartphone applications, from navigation, music player to social media.
However, LeEco's advantage lies in its ability to promote its own ecosystem through its original video-streaming business with exclusive video resources in sports game, music and TV dramas.
An article published by techcrunch.com in January last year said that the Internet of Things (IoT) has made possible for connected cars to establish new ecosystems.
The report said that today, nearly 23 million cars across the world are connected to the Internet, which is expected to increase to 152 million.
According to the report, new vehicles in the U.S. are now equipped with 4G LTE mobile hotspots, with even more services in the future.