The LeEco Group with Wang Boyuan

Leong Chung Wei Bernard
Leong Chung Wei Bernard
The LeEco Group with Wang Boyuan
Wang Boyuan from TechCrunch China & Technode discussed the LeEco Group from the complicated business structure to its recent expansion in the US market.

Wang Boyuan from Technode & TechCrunch China joined us in an interesting discussion the LeEco Group. He began with the vision, mission and team behind the company and break down the intriguing web of business structures within the group. Last but not least, he also discussed whether the LeEco can survive their ongoing crisis and offer his perspectives whether LeEco is truly disrupting the industry or a house of cards.

Here are the interesting show notes and links to the discussion (with time-stamps included):

  • Wang Boyuan, Writer and Editor, TechCrunch China (@thisboyuan, wechat:boyuanw, TechCrunch China) [0:39]
  • LeEco (Wikipedia, Bloomberg, main site) [1:29]
    • Introduction: LeEco is a leading global Internet Company, started from the media space with LeTV, and now it is in different business such as mobile phones and cars and launched in the US. It’s a public company listed on Shenzhen Stock Exchange, with an annual revenue of US$1.6B with market capitalisation in the range of US$13B. 
    • Can you introduce the company LeEco formerly known as LeTV or Leshi? [2:09]
    • What is the mission and vision of LeEco Group? [3:01]
    • Who are the key executives in LeEco Group together with their charismatic founder, Jia Yueting? [3:35]
      • Hank Liu, Vice Chairman & co-founder of LeEco Group [4:41]
    • Who are the board of directors in the LeEco Group? [5:30]
    • Can you share how the company is structured for example, it has many subsidiaries within the Group itself for example, Letv.com, Leshi Zhi Xin, Le Vision Pictures, Wangjiu.com, Letv Holding, Letv Investment management and Le Mobile? [6:38]
      • LeHoldings is said to have 34 subsidiaries according to The Economic Observer 经济观察报. They can be parted in two categories: listed and unlisted. (see the picture below)
      • Leshi Internet Information & Technology (LeHoldings only takes 0.64% share), 13 affiliates, including the video platform Letv.com, Leshi Zhi Xin which provide Smart TV devices and online store, LeSports and LeMusic which holds its Intellectual Properties and content services, like the right to air China top soccer league in China, and to air NBA games in HK.
      • The listed subsidiaries also include Letv Investment management (its fintech branch), LeCloud (cloud service), HuaErYingShi (TV drama production) and LeShi NewMedia (company to buy IPs).
      • The unlisted business including Le Mobile its smartphone business, Faraday Future, its supercar business, Le Vision Pictures (motion picture production and distribution) behind the upcoming Hollywood blockbuster “The Great Wall” directed by Zhang Yimou and starring Matt Damon, Leshi Agriculture, including Wangjiu.com sell wines and alcohol.
    • How are the different business units within LeEco Group structured? [9:47]
    • How do LeEco generate revenues and what are the business models for their different businesses? [10:50]
      • In 2015, 46.78% of their venue came from TV (terminal), 20.82% came from subscription, and advertisement took 20.23%
    • Can you talk about the hardware products launched by LeEco? [12:00]
    • Why did LeEco acquire Vizio for US$2B? [14:15]
    • LeEco’s strategy in the US market. [15:40]
    • Is LeEco really a disruptor going big or a house of cards that will crash at some point? [16:30]
    • How is LeEco compare to BAT and Xiaomi? [17:50] 
    • Recently LeEco has admitted to problems of over-expansion and cash shortfall, what do you think for their way forward? [19:22]

Here’s the structure of LeEco Group from their 2015 annual report (and it’s written in Chinese)

References:

 

Podcast Information:

The show is hosted by Bernard Leong (@bleongcw) and are sponsored by Ideal Workspace (Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn) with their new Altizen Desk on Indiegogo (Twitter, Facebook, Medium). Also check out Ideal Workspace’s new standing desk, Altizen and sign up for their mailing list. Sound credits for the intro music: Taro Iwashiro, “The Beginning” from Red Cliff Soundtrack. 

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