LeEco will make its US consumer debut on November 2, with smartphones, TVs, and also bicycles and automobiles.
On October 19, LeEco made its official debut into the US market. LeEco will begin selling their smartphones and smart TVs from November 2, according to a speech made in San Francisco by Jia Yueting, the CEO and founder of LeEco. However, along with their main products, TVs and smartphones, they have also presented a streaming service, bikes and automobiles, all of which will form parts of the whole ecosystem.
Compared to other leading consumer electronics companies such as Apple and Samsung, LeEco takes a different approach. To be more specific, their products are priced lower, which means lower earnings for the company. However, because LeEco’s aims are not limited to selling one or two products more, and are intended to establish their own ecosystem where people are using LeEco’s devices, consuming LeEco content, driving LeEco’s car and shopping on LeEco’s platform. So, short-term profit is not so much of a concern, according to Jia.
LeEco has been preparing thoroughly for successfully settling in the US market, mainly through partnerships and acquisition. LeEco announced plans to acquire TV manufacturing company Vizio Inc. in the US. And LeEco’s streaming service will include content from their partners, such as MGM, Lionsgate, VICE and Showtime.
LeEco seems to be a little different from other Chinese upstart tech companies such as Huawei or Xiaomi. It is hard to define this company as a hardware company. Some might say that LeEco is trying to be a combination of Apple, Amazon, Google, Netflix, Samsung, and Tesla. But it is still worthwhile to note that even if each product resembles existing products, the magic to link them all into one ecosystem is indeed LeEco’s aim.
When Huawei is having a hard time in US market due to security problems, and Xiaomi is facing similar patent issues, it is difficult to presume LeEco’s debut in the US was the right strategy. But, at least at this point, market reaction has been far from bad. As long as the product is good, the price is reasonable, and design is attractive, it seems like there is no reason that American consumers will reject LeEco’s products.
— A version of this article originally appeared on Technode.
