LeEco formerly Letv is a brand I’ve been keeping an eye on for awhile now. Ever since I saw they were the first to release a phone using the USB-C port last year. The Le 1 series which includes the Le 1, Le 1 Pro, and Le 1 Max.
To see a company I had never heard of before beat all the big players to this new standard really got my attention. Even Samsung hasn’t made the switch over yet for their 2016 flagship. Then before 2015 could even end they announced another first at CES. The Le Max Pro a 6.33 inch phone and first phone to officially have the Snapdragon 820.
Once again they were beating all the major players. Not bad for a company still new to making phones. Where they started out though was streaming video. They are one of the largest streaming video sites in China. They even produce their own original content. Imagine if Netflix started making phones, or if Amazon made the Fire Phone and it didn’t suck.
Recently they changed their name from Letv to LeEco. Going through a re-branding because they may have started out as a video streaming site, but clearly they’ve grown. They not only make phones, but also TVs, and are even rumored to be working on cars.
LeEco’s phones and TVs are content delivery systems no doubt about it. Yet they don’t seem to do it obnoxiously like the Fire Phone did. They’ve shown interest in expanding to the US. Opening offices near Silicon Valley and Los Angeles. According to LeEco’s Vice President JD Howard “The smartphone industry is getting a little stale. It’s a little same old, same old.” He also added “We think the way forward is more content centric, not app centric.”
After seeing how quickly they adopt new hardware, their is no doubt that LeEco is a forward thinking company. They also broke records in India selling more than 200,000 of their Le 1s phones in one month. To make this much progress within a year of making your first phone is very impressive. I can’t wait to see what they do this year, and hope they expand more in the US.
Full disclosure I am a LeEco Champ, and I receive their products from time to time but my opinions are my own.
