U.S. San Francisco, Calif. – Chinese technology and entertainment company LeEco opened operations in the U.S. with a 2 hours conference on Wednesday. LeEco live streamed the event and said it would sell smartphones and smart TVs in the country as of November 2.
LeEco thinks of itself as the source of all things tech. In China, the company offers movies,; and hosts e-commerce, streaming entertainment, and sports on its cloud service. LeEco chief revenue officer Danny Bowman says there is no company alike in the U.S.
The company’s vision is to provide premium services at budget prices. They integrate apps, streaming content, and smart devices in a single ecosystem.
What is LeEco?
LeEco is the latest Chinese company trying to make its way into U.S. markets with a plethora of products and believes it stands out thanks to a holistic approach that includes hardware, software, and entertainment.
On the San Francisco event, LeEco offered a taste of the LePro 3 and Le S3 phones, the Super4 series of televisions, the flagship uMax85 TV, and more.
It also showed off its LeSee Pro autonomous driving concept car, as well as concept products such as it Explore VR headset and a smart bicycle.
LeEco’s catalog includes a streaming service, smartphones, and smart TVs
It would include content from VICE, Lionsgate, Showtime, and MGM amongst others. Still, it will have to compete with Netflix, Amazon and a raft of other streaming giants.
The service also hosts a growing catalog of over 1,000 episodes and films they produced in LeVision Pictures studio. LeMusic, China’s largest streaming music service, and LeSports, China’s top internet-base sports company, are also part of the app.
Customers would have to buy the EcoPass to access their service, but the company will offer U.S. customers a three-month free trial.
U.S. customers may get their hands on LeEco’s 3rd generation smartphones, the $399 LePro3. These devices have a custom Snapdragon processor, a 5.5-inch screen, 4GB memory RAM and 64GB store. Its 4070mAH battery enables 12 hours of video streaming.
Flagship smartTV uMax85, a 7ft screen with high-quality dimming zones and support for Dolby Vision and HDR10, will sell for $4999 with an instant rebate of $1000.
LeEco will also be offering three versions of its Super4 X-Series smart TV, beginning at $659 with a $200 instant rebate. All the products are available at Lemall.com.
LeEco’s US headquarters are in San Jose, California
Back in April, the company opened an 86,000-square-foot headquarters in San Jose, California, and a bought a 49-acre property from Yahoo in June. These Silicon Valley officers will focus on driverless tech, artificial intelligence and machine learning.
LeEco lured in US executives from companies like Google, Qualcomm, and Samsung. A notable hire is Todd Pendleton, former Samsung executive behind the “Next Big Thing” campaign.
The growing spree extended in July when LeEco bought US TV maker Vizio for $2 billion.
Source: Wall Street Journal