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It\u2019s hard to know where to begin with this mess. It\u2019s only been seven months since LeEco launched in the U.S. with one of the most bizarre press conferences<\/a> in recent memory, right down to the super weird Michael Bay cameo.<\/p>\n Since then, it\u2019s been a constant parade of bad news for the company, cumulating with a conference call today that will lead to around 325 layoffs in the US alone.<\/p>\n The company confirmed as much with a statement that\u2019s still stubbornly optimistic about its future in the States, writing in part,<\/p>\n While we\u2019ve made progress in growing our distribution channels, the challenges with raising new capital have made it difficult in the past few months to support all of our business\u2019 priorities. As a result, the capital we do have will have to be highly focused resulting in a significant restructuring and streamlining of our business, operations and workforce. This will impact approximately 325 people in the U.S.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n It\u2019s the culmination of an on-going shit show that isn\u2019t likely to end any time soon. The full list of red flags is too long to labor over here, but consider this a bit of a greatest hits<\/a>. Of special note are the recent resignation<\/a> of CEO and founder\u00a0Jia Yueting, its decision not to purchase Vizio after all<\/a>\u00a0and a big rethink of that giant swath of land\u00a0it bought from Yahoo in the Silicon Valley<\/a>.<\/p>\n So, what\u2019s going on with LeEco? The consensus from pretty much the start is the Chinese brand flew much too close the sun. It\u2019s hard to watch that press conference from back in October and not come to the same conclusion. Tackling either the U.S. smartphone or TV market would have been an uphill climb in and of itself, so LeEco\u2019s executives just said \u201cscrew it, we\u2019re taking on everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n The event included the announcement of several phones, TVs, a streaming media service, an electric car, a bicycle and a VR headset among others, launched with all the grace and panache you\u2019d expect from an event that listed the consummate Transformers<\/em>\u00a0auteur\u00a0among its credits.<\/p>\n Now, after appearing to have backed away from India in a big way<\/a>, the company looks to be near\u00a0packing up its things and going home here in the US, as well. Or rather, it\u00a0has regressed to much more measured baby steps, focusing on a toehold it should have played into in the first place: Chinese-speaking households here in the States.<\/p>\n The company didn\u2019t distinguish itself much on the hardware front, but it\u2019s always had one key thing going for it: a breadth of Chinese language programming available through its service that many have deemed to be, \u201cthe Netflix of China.\u201d<\/p>\n The statement continues,<\/p>\n Our goal is to continue to gain momentum. In the past few months, we have gained a large foothold in Chinese-speaking households in the U.S. by offering tailor-made products and content for this community. We believe this provides us an opportunity to build on our strengths and grow from there.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Before a rebrand as the much more ambitiously-named LeEco (that\u2019s \u201ceco\u201d as in \u201cecosystem\u201d), the company was LeTV, a primarily content-focused service. Amidst all of its other plans, the company hope to recapture some of that success in the U.S. market, and it started buying up English language production companies and served as a key investment in this year\u2019s bizarre historical fantasy, The Great Wall<\/em>.<\/p>\n But so far the company\u2019s play in the States has been about as well received<\/a> as that\u00a0Matt Damon\/monster vehicle.\u00a0Few outside of LeEco\u2019s executive board rooms expected this to end well. And maybe it\u2019s not completely over as long as the company still has a base of operations.\u00a0The lesson here is not to avoid being ambitious, it\u2019s just to know your limitations.<\/p>\n A big, flashy launch doesn\u2019t amount to much without the products to back it up, and at the end of the day, LeEco didn\u2019t have much to deliver aside from promises and a few middling handsets. The\u00a0real\u00a0concern here, of course, isn\u2019t the end to products like its smart bike \u2014 it\u2019s the massive job losses that have seemingly become routine for the company.<\/p>\n A number of employees jumped on board from high-profile competitors with the promise of being there for the launch of an exciting company. Many seem to have left of their own\u00a0accord in recent months, while the rest are back on the job market, no doubt dizzy from the corporate backlash. Perhaps this is precisely\u00a0the\u00a0tourniquet the company needs to stem the bleeding, but in spite of some hopeful words from corporate, there really doesn\u2019t seem to be much reason to\u00a0hold out hope.<\/p>\n Featured Image: VCG<\/a>\/Getty Images<\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\n
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It’s hard to know where to begin with this mess. It’s only been seven months since LeEco launched in the U.S. with one of the most bizarre press conferences in recent memory, right down to the super weird Michael Bay cameo. Since then, it’s been a constant parade of bad news for the company, cumulating with a conference call today that will lead to around 325 layoffs in the… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n\n<\/img><\/a>
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