Tencent announces TOS+, an open smart hardware operating system for internet-connected devices such as TVs and watches, taking on Alibaba and Xiaomi
Context & Ripple Effects
In April 2015 Tencent moved beyond phones into the software layer of everyday hardware, announcing TOS+ as an open operating system for connected TVs, watches, and other devices — a direct challenge to the hardware-software stacks Alibaba and Xiaomi were each building around their own ecosystems.
That bet on owning an OS layer proved durable rather than one-off: Tencent reorganized around cloud and smart industries three years later in a major restructuring, kept investing through the Orca cloud OS and custom chips announced in 2021, and by then Huawei had already put its own Harmony OS on a living-room smart TV with the Honor Vision. The battleground TOS+ opened — who controls the system software on non-phone screens — became a fixture of Chinese tech competition.
First-order effects
- Device makers building TVs and wearables gain a Tencent-backed open OS option, letting them ship connected hardware without committing to Alibaba's or Xiaomi's proprietary stacks.
Second-order effects
- Alibaba and Xiaomi face pressure to defend their device ecosystems' lock-in — either opening their own platforms to third-party makers or ceding ground on screens outside the smartphone.
Third-order effects
- The pattern points toward Chinese platforms consolidating control of the OS layer across device categories — a walled-garden race that regulators later began dismantling when Tencent and Alibaba pledged mutual compatibility after meeting with officials in their 2021 interoperability pledge.
The trend: China's internet giants are competing to own the operating-system layer of connected hardware, with regulators increasingly forcing those walled gardens open.