LeEco is in the news once again and unfortunately, it is still not about the rebound of the company’s fortunes. Just recently, LeEco’s U.S office complex was photographed by a reported showing lots of empty office spaces with just a few workers left of what started out as a buzzing outfit hoping to make its mark in the lucrative U.S market. Now the U.S division of LeEco has suddenly taken down its official website. The web address www.leeco.com now redirects to the Chinese version and even when the www.leeco.com/us is entered, it displays a page showing the website is temporarily unavailable.

LeEco’s U.S website went online last year when the company launched its first products in the U.S. Specifically, it has been 11 months since that launch which took place in October last year. Since then, the company has been offering up its products like smartphones, TV and a few other services but has been struggling with the sales with the company shedding off some of its liabilities and chose to focus on a much smaller Chinese market with its products and internet services.

Read More: LeEco Closes Only Shop In Moscow, Exit From Russia Looming

The company disclosed that the shutdown was made in order to carry out maintenance on the website and that it would be back online on September 15 which is this coming Friday. However, the shutdown is a reflection of the level of relevance of the website to LeEco. It is unusual for a tech company to shut down its website for a week-long maintenance, especially a sales website. But then, LeEco is all embroiled in financial difficulties and this may likely noyt be unconnected to that. We still do hope the company stages a comeback sometime soon.

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It has been 11 months already since LeEco held its first launch event in the U.S, signaling the official debut of the tech giant in the United States. Obviously, the Chinese company was looking to increase its revenue with the foray into the U.S but it soon hit troubled waters financially, as a result of its huge investment in U.S electric car maker Faraday Future. The financial woes recently led to the resignation of CEO Jia Yueting and also, the company has been cutting down its staff strength gradually. 

What we actually weren’t aware of is that LeEco has laid off almost all of its staff strength in the U.S. Engadget’s Richard Lai recently grabbed a couple of photos of Leeco’s U.S office in San Jose, California and it was entirely devoid of activities with much of the offices looking empty. On inquiry, LeEco disclosed that there are only a handful of employees still working for the company in the U.S. LeEco had nearly 325 persons on its payroll in the US before its finances began to dwindle. This has obviously led to the laying off of a large chunk of that number, put at 85% of its U.S workforce. The Chinese company, regarded as the “Netflix of China” because of its prolific video streaming service, now focuses on Chinese speaking customers and that is a small market which its current workforce can handle.  The company also acquired  Yahoo’s office building in Santa Clara where it hoped to site its U.S headquarters. That property is also likely deserted as well.

Read More: LeEco Sued for Non-Payment of Fees by Chinese Ad Agency

This latest discovery is yet another indication that the tech company isn’t anywhere near staging a return to its glory days. The company was discovered to have closed its only shop in Russia and not long before that, Jia Yueting threw in the towel as CEO. The company also recently pulled out of a deal to buy VIZIO, one of the largest TV makers in the world, citing a lack of financial resources to seal the deal. Even in China, LeEco has had to close down some of its service centres apparently to cut down operational cost. We certainly do hope that the innovative and once sprawling tech giant makes a comeback to the scene sometime soon.

(source)

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Just when we thought things were beginning to look up for financially troubled LeEco following the investment of $2.18 billion USD by Sunac Holdings, fresh facts have emerged that the Chinese tech giant delayed in paying the salary of its staff in the US March salary.

The Chinese company made a formal entry into the US market last year and since then it is reported to have in its employ over 500 staffs. Usually, LeEco is said to pay its US employees on the 15th and last day of every month but instead of paying on March 31st, the company inform employees that their paycheck would be delayed. A staff who declined to be identified hinted that they were informed that the delay was due to issues with moving money from China. However, a company spokeswoman disclosed that payment was later made on April 4.

Read Also: Compal Invests 700 Million Yuan in LeEco’s Leshi Zhixin

Apart from the delay in payment of employee emoluments, some suppliers claim LeEco was behind on payments both in the US and China. Recall, the company was stripped of its broadcast rights for English Premiership games due to default in the payment of its subscription to the broadcast rights holder. There has also been an exodus of several high-profile executives in the last few months and the company was said to be thinking of sell its Silicon Valley property where it hoped to site its North America headquarters.

Despite all these, CEO Jia Yueting is still confident the company will bounce back and head right back to the top and we really hope they do, soon.

(source)

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When LeTV was formed back in 2004, the company started as an online video company. Twelve years later and with a new name, LeEco has added phone manufacturing, smart TVs, and smart cars to their products. Now the biggest thing on their plate is their North America (United States) launch which the company says is slated for 19th of October.

We already foresaw this following the company’s acquisition of Vizio Inc., an American company known for its affordable flatscreen TVs. Back in June, the company also acquired 50 acres of land situated in Santa Clara from Yahoo for  $250 million.

Last month, the company appointed a couple of new officials. First, LeEco appointed former Senior Vice-president and Division President of Qualcomm, Rob Chandhok. Mr Chandhok joins the company as Chief Research and Development Officer for North America.

Next they appointed ex-Huawei President of Western Europe Consumer Business Group, Middle East and North Africa Consumer Business Group, Richard Ren. His new role at LeEco is as the Acting President of the company’s North America Division.

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The company has put up a teaser on its official site which hints at some of the products that may be coming to the US. The products teased include a smartphone, a smart television, smart bike and a VR headset. Seems the US might be getting the new Snapdragon 821 Le Pro 3 soon.

The event will take place in San Francisco, California at 10:00 am Pacific Time.

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