LeEco will be shifting its business focus in India from smartphones to smart TVs. According to Alexi Li, the COO of the company, investments by LeEco in the Indian market will be focused on its TV business and it expects to grow rapidly in the country through it. This news comes after LeEco quelled rumors last week that it will be pulling out of the Indian market. Smart TV manufacturers are expected to sell at least one million smart TVs in India by the end of 2017.
While known for their online approach, LeEco will also be marketing their smart TVs offline, in a bid to reach a wider customer base. On top of that, the Chinese manufacturer is expected to invest in a Research & Development (R&D) or production facility, and it could be built in the upcoming Information Technology Development Region (ITIR) that is located in Pali, Rajasthan. Other plans by the company includes the shift of focus to accessories such as speakers and headphones, which will be sold through LeMall. LeEco also has no plans to launch its upcoming electric cars in India this year. It has also scaled back on its content development plans, and only has a small team working on content at the moment. As for the performance of the company last year, it managed to generate revenues of up to $213 million in India throughout 2016, and this was largely due to the sales of 1.28 million smartphones along with 12,000 TVs sold in the country.
Just two weeks backs, reports revealed that LeEco had laid off 85 percent of its staff in India, which led to rumors that the company was planning on leaving the country soon, though that has been dispelled by the firm itself. LeEco is currently facing a cash crunch, and this was revealed by its founder, Jie Yuting through an internal memo sent to employees last year. The founder revealed over expansion as the main cause for the cash crunch, and the company has scaled back on operations since. The company is also planning to sell property in the Silicon Valley which it purchased from Yahoo back in 2016 for $250 million to build its main office in the US, though plans for it has been scrapped for now.