LeEco to focus on TV biz, not exit India

Chinese electronics maker LeEco will focus on its TV business in the country and implement a new strategy to manage operations as the company goes through a cash crunch, a company official said.

“We will not exit India but work out a smart strategy to manage operations in India. We will be cautious with our investments for now,” said Alex Li, group vice-president and India chief operating officer.

The company’s TV business will grow faster than mobiles in India as the smart TV market is expected to boom, Li said. “We will focus on smart TVs only and look at ways to solidify our existing customer base which includes smartphones as well.”

The company was looking to invest in an assembly or an R&D facility in the IT Investment Region (ITIR), he added.

“It will help create intellectual property and thereby make the nation competent in developing cutting edge technologies, electronics and software products,” minister of state for IT PP Choudhary said.

The facility will come up in Pali, Rajasthan. The Rajasthan government has already identified land to develop JodhpurPali area as an ITIR, and will submit a detailed project report to the Centre by mid-April.

LeEco’s billionaire founder and CEO Jia Yueting admitted in a letter to staff in November that the firm was facing a “big company disease” and battling a cash crunch after expanding at an unprecedented rate.

According to a TechCrunch report, the company had, in March, reduced its headcount in the country from over 350 employees to around 80.

“We are no longer in the expansion mode and hence we have readjusted our staff to solidify our base in the country. Our content development plans have been scaled down now with only a small team operating from Mumbai. We will look to partner more now,” Li said, adding that its partnership with Eros Now will also resume soon.

Eros Now recently stopped providing content to LeEco on its smartphones. Li said he has a meeting with Eros on Monday where he will look to address all the concerns.

Li also said that the company will look to generate more revenue from sale of accessories through its online LeMall store.

The company will not bring electric cars to India in 2017, or open single brand retail stores in the country during the year, he added.

According to the company, LeEco recorded a revenue of ₹1,400 crore by selling at least 1.25 million phones and 12,000 smart TVs.