14 DAY TRIAL // Bad news for LeEco fans all over the world, as the Chinese company seems to be in deep trouble after some bad marketing decisions made last year, especially in the United Sates market.
Economic Times reports LeEco has just fired 85% of its staff in India and it's now ready to exit this market. India is one of the few markets outside China where LeEco is selling, with some success, its smartphones.
Unfortunately, it looks like the company is forced to cut costs so badly that it will result in the closure of its Indian business. If that happens (and everything points to that), customers in the United States shouldn't expect to see LeEco smartphones in the country for too long.
Three top industry sources claim at least two executives, Atul Jain, chief operating officer of smart electronics business, and Debashish Ghosh, chief operating officer for Internet applications, services and content, have resigned.
Also, LeEco India confirmed it had to lay off 85% of its staff, but the company's chief operating officer Alex Li denied plans to exit the market or liquidate stock.
The company claims it has streamlined its business in India
According to Li, the company wants to better streamline its business in India, hence the massive layoffs. He went on to say LeEco decided to “recalibrate and reimagined its business in India since last year and has taken steps to ensure that the scale of operations is in sync with resources.”
“All businesses need to be profitable to be sustainable. That has been the primary objective in taking certain measures, though the numbers (of layoffs) indicated are incorrect,” said Li.
Despite the layoffs, LeEco's official has confirmed the company has new smartphone models in the pipeline, which will be launched in India in the coming weeks.
However, a senior executive with a leading ecommerce marketplace that does business with LeEco has said the Chinese company is readying its exit from India, as it's been hit with a slump in sales following demonetization.