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China's LeEco Calls Off Its $2 Billion Purchase of TV Maker Vizio (axios.com)

Posted by msmash on from the not-a-done-deal dept.

Last year, China's conglomerate LeEco announced it would be acquiring TV maker Vizio for a sum of $2 billion. The move would have given LeEco, which is increasingly expanding its business beyond Chinese market, an instant foothold in the United States. But today, both companies announced they are cancelling the plan due to "regulatory headwinds." In a statement, the companies said: We continue to believe that there is great synergy between the two companies, and are pleased to announce that LeEco and Vizio have reached an agreement that is a win for both companies ... LeEco and Vizio will continue to explore opportunities to incorporate the Le app and content within the Vizio connected CE platform, and engage in a collaborative partnership to leverage LeEco's ecosystem user interface platform, along with the brand's exclusive content and distribution channels, to bring Vizio products to the China market. The announcement comes amid troubled times for both the companies. On one hand, LeEco is struggling financially. Bloomberg reported earlier this month that the company had delayed payroll for its US employees. Vizio was thrown under the bus in February after FTC fined the company $2.2 million to settle a case involving the TVs' data collection techniques.

25 comments

  1. LeEco- spyware by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 1

    LeEco are they the company that planted all those phones in the US that had spyware that reported back to China? I think the phones were sold as "Blu" but was LeEco the maker of those phones? For some reason that company sets off alarm bells in my head, I know they did something bad., trying to remember what it was.

    I wouldn't buy a Vizio again if I knew it was owned by LeEco.

    --
    "That's the way to do it" - Punch
    1. Re: LeEco- spyware by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Vizio sucks anyway. The last TV I purchased like 4 months ago works like shit. It's cheap garbage.

    2. Re:LeEco- spyware by MedHead · · Score: 1

      If only one could search the internet for answers to questions like yours (LeEco does not appear to be the company to which you are referring)

    3. Re: LeEco- spyware by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Buys cheap tv and complains that it runs like cheap garbage. Hmmmmmm

    4. Re: LeEco- spyware by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      Vizio made their name by selling good cheap TVs, and not charging a premium for their name.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    5. Re:LeEco- spyware by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Internet searches is one of the ways that they spy on us. Much safer to get you to perform the search for me and then have you post your findings. Thanks!

    6. Re: LeEco- spyware by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They get good reviews, and I have one that I quite like.

    7. Re: LeEco- spyware by barc0001 · · Score: 1

      Buy cheap... buy cheap again! Maybe don't cheap out on things you want to last?

    8. Re: LeEco- spyware by mattack2 · · Score: 1

      Aah, I hadn't realized the purchase hadn't gone through.. I was wondering why there were still new LeEco and Vizio TVs on sale.

      Though I know it's always the whiners that post about it, I have read a few people give reviews saying their Vizio died just out of warranty.

      I have sort of been waiting for cheap "last year's" TVs to come around, but they have a new 2017 model that's currently cheaper than the other guys' 2016 models. (I'm looking at "giant" TVs, for my living room.)

    9. Re:LeEco- spyware by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, LeEco is the company that thought if they pissed away billions of dollars a lots of random ideas that they could succeed at something.

    10. Re: LeEco- spyware by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's how they started to get market share. Just like any corporation over time they are just going to ride on that mind set they've built up by releasing junk. Once everyone considers them junk they'll file bankruptcy and the high up exec will get their golden parachutes

    11. Re: LeEco- spyware by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I bought one back in 2009 or so and for some reason the scaler never worked right at native digital resolution - it had this weird pinched grid in the picture. Sending it something lower res or analog looked fine though. Never really trusted them after that.

    12. Re:LeEco- spyware by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I believe you're thinking of Huawei, which purportedly has ties to the PLA.

    13. Re: LeEco- spyware by sodul · · Score: 1

      My first Vizio, which I almost only used to play my PS3 games, which mean not much, died after 24 months +1 or 2 weeks. Fortunately it was bought from Costco, 2 years, with an Amex, +1y. They pretty much paid the replacement cost. The replacement one is a much nicer quality and I also barely use it if it dies within 3y, well I will get Amex to replace it. If it dies beyond that ... $1000 for 6Y of decent quality 1080p then 4K 55" TV is not so bad.

      Look at the models at Costco, the free 2Y warranty and the price difference alone could pay for the annual membership fee if you are not a member yet. Does anyone know if the new Costco Visa card has the +1 year warranty Amex had?

    14. Re: LeEco- spyware by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 1

      My first Vizio is still going strong, it's probably close to 10 years old now. Never a worry with it.

      It made me take a gamble on a 42inch Hiteker (another cheapo brand) that I got for about $150. That one is about 3 years old- that did arrive with a problem, the first month or so there was a pale mark visible in the middle when the screen went dark... after a few months that pale mark disappeared.

      Overall though, I've had good luck with crappy cheap TVs.

      --
      "That's the way to do it" - Punch
    15. Re: LeEco- spyware by mattack2 · · Score: 1

      BTW, the 2017 model I was talking about is 65" for $900. (Though looking there again now, there are two slightly different 65" models for the same price.. I haven't yet seen what the differences are.)

      The jump to 70 or 75" seems like a huge jump in price (5" more for $300, 10" more for $1100), though a few months ago I saw an LG 70" for $1100 at the store).

  2. Amazon should buy them. by RyanRife8866 · · Score: 0

    Amazon should buy Vizio, they have a similar business methodologies and it gives Amazon more access to the living room.

  3. Wait, what? by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 1

    Since when is getting a slap on the wrist for your egregious surveillance practices "getting thrown under the bus"?

  4. Knock-off Vizio TVs by MobyDisk · · Score: 2

    I tell people my TV was so cheap, it's a fake Vizio.

    The funny story is that my Vizio TV came with the letters VIZIO on the front corner. But after a few days, the first "I" fell off so it just said V ZIO. A month later, the other "I" fell-off so now it says V Z O. I love the TV snobs who feel snubbed to be in a house that has a low-end TV, but double-so since I would buy a fake version of it. I'm not sure if they believe me or not. :-) In reality, Vizio gets good reviews in the mid-range. Check-out rtings for accurate no-nonsense reviews. The real low-end TVs are the "Westinghouse" and "RCA" which are just companies that rebrand existing products, or names like "Proscan" that appear for a year then vanish.

    1. Re:Knock-off Vizio TVs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I tell people my TV was so cheap, it's a fake Vizio.

      The funny story is that my Vizio TV came with the letters VIZIO on the front corner. But after a few days, the first "I" fell off so it just said V ZIO. A month later, the other "I" fell-off so now it says V Z O. I love the TV snobs who feel snubbed to be in a house that has a low-end TV, but double-so since I would buy a fake version of it. I'm not sure if they believe me or not. :-) In reality, Vizio gets good reviews in the mid-range. Check-out rtings for accurate no-nonsense reviews. The real low-end TVs are the "Westinghouse" and "RCA" which are just companies that rebrand existing products, or names like "Proscan" that appear for a year then vanish.

      Rtings is not the problem with Vizio as a brand. Unfortunately, unlike cars, it's not easy to assess reliability or brands and models. Vizio, I suspect, has some of the worst reliability. I also have a Vizio TV, and they do look nice. I just think with a 1 year warranty on a $500+ item, you want reliability (because the warranty is miniscule).

  5. No loss, never made a Roku TV by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    VIZIO never made a Roku TV, so no big loss. Got a Hisense Roku TV, and I don't think I can go back now.

  6. Vizio's former repair partners were scumbags too by Linsaran · · Score: 1

    I used to do work as an independent contractor for this company 'Syntechs' based in florida. They had the repair contract for Vizio nationwide. TL;DR that company folded into bankruptcy and failed to pay us techs collectively $1.6 million dollars for jobs we did on behalf of Vizio. This isn't exactly Vizio's fault since I'm pretty sure Vizio paid Syntechs for our services, but it still left a bad taste in my mouth. They took me for about $32,000 worth of jobs my company did for them that they never paid.

    --
    In a bit of shameless internet panhandling, I accept Litecoin Donations at Lbd2oH9QsthD1GfuUXPyka12YxvWJYnBVf
  7. China's LeEco Calls Off Its $2 Billion Purchase by LonR23 · · Score: 1

    Interesting post