Chinese TV and smartphone vendor LeEco said it will cut over 300 jobs at its US&nbsp;business, amounting to almost three-quarters of its local workforce, as the cash-strapped conglomerate streamlines global operations in response to a shortage of cash.

The cuts are aimed at increasing focus on LeEco&#39;s home market and core TV set and online content business after founder Jia Yueting last year said expansion had been too quick and costly.

LeEco stretched from video streaming to TV sets, smartphones, sports and even electric vehicles in a little over a decade, employing 14,000 people globally as of late last year.

&quot;The breadth of our business model is capital intensive,&quot; LeEco said in a statement. This &quot;made it difficult in the past few months to support&quot; all its businesses.

&quot;As a result, the capital we do have will have to be highly focused resulting in a significant restructuring and streamlining of our business, operations and workforce.&quot;

Reuters earlier reported, citing a person with knowledge of the plans, that LeEco aimed to cut US&nbsp;personnel to about 60 people. That would compare with &quot;around 500&quot; when LeEco formally launched US&nbsp;operations in October.

The cuts will total 325, said Teri Daley, LeEco&#39;s general manager of communications, including high-profile &quot;leadership&quot; hires formerly at Samsung Electronics and Qualcomm.

She declined to specify the size of the remaining headcount, but said an office in San Diego, California, will close while&nbsp;its presence in Los Angeles would be downsized.

Big company disease

LeEco, headed by founder Jia, has been scaling back overseas operations, making cuts in India, selling property in Silicon Valley and pulling out of a deal to buy US&nbsp;TV maker Vizio.

Jia told reporters on Sunday the cuts were to remove low-efficiency workers, especially from non-listed businesses.

As recently as October, Jia said a planned new North American campus would be able to house 12,000 employees. But in November, he said LeEco was facing &quot;big company disease&quot; and suffering a shortage of cash.

In March, Reuters reported that LeEco had agreed to sell the land earmarked for the campus.

While the US&nbsp;cuts are part of a strategy to refocus on the Chinese market, businesses at home such as smartphones and sports could also face major cuts, said the person with knowledge of the US&nbsp;job cut plans.

&quot;They will focus more on China,&quot; the person said. &quot;If you&#39;re looking for trends to follow in the future, you&#39;ll probably see a continued focus on the TV business.&quot;

LeEco said the cuts were not the beginning of the end of its US&nbsp;ambitions, but that it would take a more &quot;phased approach&quot;.

&quot;We are committed to staying in the US,&quot; Daley said. LeEco will continue to sell TV sets and content as well as smartphones but will narrow focus to Chinese-American consumers, she said.

(Reuters)

The cuts are aimed at increasing focus on LeEco's home market and its core TV set and online content business

Chinese TV and smartphone vendor LeEco said it will cut over 300 jobs at its US business, amounting to almost three-quarters of its local workforce, as the cash-strapped conglomerate streamlines global operations in response to a shortage of cash. The cuts are aimed at increasing focus on LeEco's home market and core TV set and online content business after founder Jia Yueting last year said expansion had been too quick and costly. LeEco stretched from video streaming to TV sets, smartphones, sports and even electric vehicles in a little over a decade, employing 14,000 people globally as of late last year. "The breadth of our business model is capital intensive," LeEco said in a statement. This "made it difficult in the past few months to support" all its businesses. "As a result, the capital we do have will have to be highly focused resulting in a significant restructuring and streamlining of our business, operations and workforce." Reuters earlier reported, citing a person with knowledge of the plans, that LeEco aimed to cut US personnel to about 60 people. That would compare with "around 500" when LeEco formally launched US operations in October. The cuts will total 325, said Teri Daley, LeEco's general manager of communications, including high-profile "leadership" hires formerly at Samsung Electronics and Qualcomm. She declined to specify the size of the remaining headcount, but said an office in San Diego, California, will close while its presence in Los Angeles would be downsized. Big company disease LeEco, headed by founder Jia, has been scaling back overseas operations, making cuts in India, selling property in Silicon Valley and pulling out of a deal to buy US TV maker Vizio. Jia told reporters on Sunday the cuts were to remove low-efficiency workers, especially from non-listed businesses. As recently as October, Jia said a planned new North American campus would be able to house 12,000 employees. But in November, he said LeEco was facing "big company disease" and suffering a shortage of cash. In March, Reuters reported that LeEco had agreed to sell the land earmarked for the campus. While the US cuts are part of a strategy to refocus on the Chinese market, businesses at home such as smartphones and sports could also face major cuts, said the person with knowledge of the US job cut plans. "They will focus more on China," the person said. "If you're looking for trends to follow in the future, you'll probably see a continued focus on the TV business." LeEco said the cuts were not the beginning of the end of its US ambitions, but that it would take a more "phased approach". "We are committed to staying in the US," Daley said. LeEco will continue to sell TV sets and content as well as smartphones but will narrow focus to Chinese-American consumers, she said. (Reuters)

LeEco to cut about 70 per cent of US staff amid global pull-back

Asus is all set to launch its new smartphone in India on May 24. While the company has not revealed as to what phone is scheduled to be introduced in the country on Wednesday, the media invite hints at the Zenfone Live.&nbsp;

The invite doesn&rsquo;t clearly reveal details of the product, but the &ldquo;#GoLive&rdquo; mentioned in the invite adds weight to speculations.

As Asus describes, &ldquo;the Zenfone Live is the world&rsquo;s first smartphone with hardware-optimised, real-time beautification technology that makes it possible to share an even more glamorous version of yourself, live!&rdquo; 
&nbsp; 
The phone is claimed to have large pixels for 2X-greater light sensitivity and a soft-light LED selfie flash, which is said to make live-streaming selfie video clearer, brighter or more beautiful.&nbsp;

The ZenFone Live also features a dual-microphone technology, which is touted to reduce background noise and enhance voice pickup.

Other features of the phone include a Qualcomm quad-core processor paired with 2GB of RAM, 5-inch HD screen and a 13 megapixel rear camera. The phone supports two SIM cards.

Asus first unveiled the Zenfone Live to the world back in February.

(WION)

Asus first unveiled the Zenfone Live smartphone to the world back in February

Asus is all set to launch its new smartphone in India on May 24. While the company has not revealed as to what phone is scheduled to be introduced in the country on Wednesday, the media invite hints at the Zenfone Live. The invite doesn’t clearly reveal details of the product, but the “#GoLive” mentioned in the invite adds weight to speculations. As Asus describes, “the Zenfone Live is the world’s first smartphone with hardware-optimised, real-time beautification technology that makes it possible to share an even more glamorous version of yourself, live!” The phone is claimed to have large pixels for 2X-greater light sensitivity and a soft-light LED selfie flash, which is said to make live-streaming selfie video clearer, brighter or more beautiful. The ZenFone Live also features a dual-microphone technology, which is touted to reduce background noise and enhance voice pickup. Other features of the phone include a Qualcomm quad-core processor paired with 2GB of RAM, 5-inch HD screen and a 13 megapixel rear camera. The phone supports two SIM cards. Asus first unveiled the Zenfone Live to the world back in February. (WION)

Asus expected to launch Zenfone Live in India on May 24

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LeEco to cut about 70 per cent of US staff amid global pull-back

Asus expected to launch Zenfone Live in India on May 24