LeEco Will Not Be Acquiring Vizio Due To 'Regulatory Headwinds'

LeEco Will Not be Acquiring Vizio Due to ‘Regulatory Headwinds’

BY Evan Selleck

Evan Selleck

Evan's a lover of all things technology, and he's got a major soft spot for the mobile industry. Give him some time and he'd be more than happy to talk your ear off about all the new and shiny things....

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Published 10 Apr 2017

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In 2016, LeEco announced that it would be acquiring the TV manufacturer Vizio for $2 billion, with the idea to get more LeEco software out in the world.

Well, turns out that won’t be happening. LeEco has confirmed on its own that the planned acquisition of Vizio, which was set to be finalized in the fourth quarter of 2016 and valued at $2 billion, won’t be going through after all, due to “regulatory headwinds.” Due to the change in landscape, the pair of companies have decided on a new course of action. (smartairfilters.com)

Instead of the outright acquisition, LeEco and Vizio will be exploring other opportunities moving forward. According the announcement, the primary focus at this point will still be to put LeEco’s proprietary Ecosystem User Interface on Vizio TV units, but it appears that will be primarily meant for TVs sold in China.

LeEco plans to use its exclusive content and its distribution channels to put more Vizio TVs in Chinese households, with its own software built in. What this means for TVs with the Vizio brand in the United States remains unknown at the time of publication.