LeEco might soon exit India, says report

It looks like LeEco is planning to exit India as the company has fired 85% of its employees over here, claims a recent report. A few months back, the Chinese company confirmed that it is experiencing a major financial crunch.

The report cites three leading industry sources. It states that Atul Jain, the COO of smart electronics business as well as Debashish Ghosh, the COO for internet applications, content and services have resigned. The company managed to outpace rival Chinese manufacturers Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi with an advertising budget of Rs. 80 crore/month. It exited offline sales due to limited funds allotted for the Indian market following the same.

Alex Li, the COO of LeEco India confirmed the exit of the above-mentioned senior executives, but he denied the plans to exit the Indian market. Regarding the layoffs, Li stated that the company has reimagined and recalibrated its business in the country since 2016 and has taken the necessary steps to make sure that the operations are in sync with the resources.

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The report adds that the Mumbai and Delhi offices of LeEco have minimal staff and firings are happening in the Bengaluru R&D centers. Going by a senior executive with a dominant e-commerce marketplace, the company is preparing the exit the country as it has been struggling to get a place in the highly competitive smartphone market. Moreover, demonetization has also taken a toll on the sales.

When LeEco entered the country last year with the launch of the Le Max and Le 1S, the company came up with aggressive campaigns and discounts. It also poached two top level executives in order to strengthen its presence. It soon started manufacturing in India and invested a sum of $7 million for the same.

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