Last year, LeEco announced that it would be bringing its hardware stateside in an attempt to make a splash in the US market. Fast-forward to today, though, and the company’s future in the US is becoming hazy.
LeEco is letting go of 325 employees, or 70 percent of its US workforce, according to a report from CNET. The reason for the firings is a lack of funding. A company spokeswoman said that LeEco will remain in the US but that it’ll focus on Chinese-speaking households.
The LeEco spokeswoman added that the company believes that its products are competitive through 2017, but there was no comment on whether or not new products will be released to the market. It is said that the Android-powered smart bikes that LeEco showed off back in January won’t make it to market.
After making a splash in China, LeEco tried to have a similar impact in the US with aggressively priced Android smartphones and smart TVs. The company certainly tried to break into the US market, offering deals on its hardware, attempting an acquisition of Vizio, and more. Making it in the US mobile market as an unknown company can be tough, though, especially if you aren’t selling devices in carrier stores. And while LeEco is still alive in the US, today’s news certainly puts its future in US in doubt. We’ll have to wait and see if its narrowed focus on Chinese-speaking households can sustain it.
Have you bought any LeEco devices?