Jia Yueting, the founder and the chief executive officer of the company LeEco stepped down from his post at Leshi, the sister concern of LeEco, on Sunday after the deal with US giant Vizio could not be finalised due to regulatory headwinds as reported.
What is more shocking is that on Tuesday, the company said it will hand pink slips to its 325 employees, or 70 percent of the workforce of its US business, due to a lack of funding.
LeEco had seen this coming from the very beginning.
The Chinese giant that was founded in 2004, was established as a leading global internet company which promised of breakthrough technology and seamless content experiences. It had the vision to be a rare mix of iPhone, Samsung’s televisions, Netflix’s movies and shows, Paramount’s movie studio and Tesla a self-driving.
It seemed that company had great ambition but lacked the foresightedness when it came to appealing the masses of whimsical United States’ citizens. It is also worth noting that while talking about the prototype for its self-driving car, Jia spent more than 20 minutes in a monologue that left its audience in an utterly confusing state. Reportedly, last month the company failed to pay its employees based in the US on time. Their salary was delayed by 5 days and the deal with Vizio was stalled for some reason.
It now plans to promote itself as a niche player in the US market. A spokeswoman of LeEco stated that said the company still believes that its products are competitive through this year. No comments were made as to whether new gadgets shall be launched or not.
It has now turned its eyes towards the Chinese-speaking consumers of US in the hopes that they can be lured to buy the company’s televisions that feature the Chinese programming that the company already produces or has the rights to broadcast in its home market.
One of the reasons identified for LeEco’s spiral downward is that they took a plunge into the market without knowing who they are. Within a month into the business, Jia sent a memo to its employees sharing his concerns regarding the company rapid expansion. He wanted some restricting to be done to bring the problem under control. Moreover, LeEco is a name that was unheard of in the US market and this too added to its downfall.