According to a South China Morning Post report, LeEco co-founder and vice chairman, Liu Hong, said in Beijing on Tuesday that the company is “planning a very significant cooperation with Netflix”. Last week, LeEco announced a $2 billion deal to acquire California-based smart TV manufacturer VIZIO.
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Similarly to Elon Musk who established Tesla Motors, an electric auto maker, with the money earned via the electric payment company PayPal Holdings, Jia Yueting established an electric vehicle company Faraday & Future Inc., in the USA with the vast fortune he earned in China via LeEco. According to an earlier report on South China Morning Post (SCMP), Chinese technology company LeEco is now in negotiations with Netflix on a potential content partnership.
Sources close to LeEco, who were not authorized to speak on behalf of the group, told Variety that the deal is likely to see Netflix-owned shows playing on Le Eco’s video streaming platform in the U.S. Russian Federation is also another target market in LeEco’s globalization ambitions, according to South China Morning Post. LeEco plans to make an announcement at the end of September at an event in the USA, where the company is also expected to reveal its North America strategy. The Chinese company intends to operate the Vizio hardware and software businesses as a wholly owned subsidiary.
Recently, the Chinese company acquired a 50-acre site in Santa Clara, California, where it will build its North American headquarters.
“LeEco believes in breakthrough technologies, a complete ecosystem and disruptive pricing”.
For the company to tap into the United States market, Mr. Hong said that it is necessary for LeEco to sign up content partnerships in order to maneuver the monopolies established by various film and TV production companies. In addition to Netflix, LeEco is also planning to establish working relationships with several other smaller production companies.
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LeEco is significantly ramping up its activities in North America. The company is looking for ways to enter China, which is a hard market for foreign companies.
