LeEco acquires TV maker Vizio for $2 billion (update: nope)

LeEco has started to make a name for itself in China recently, where the company’s phones, smart TVs, and even smart bicycles are generating buzz. The company also started showcasing its products in the US this year, hinting at plans to enter the US market in a big way later this year.

Now it looks like the company is taking a shortcut: it’s acquiring one of the top makers of smart TVs and related products.

LeEco has announced it’s acquiring Vizio for $2 billion.

Update: On April 10th, 2017 LeEco announced that the deal is off. It’s not acquiring Vizio after all.

While Vizio is probably best known for offering TV-related hardware, the company has also dabbled in notebook, desktop, and tablet devices in recent years.

These days the company is focused pretty much exclusively on TVs and audio products such as sound bars and connected speakers.

LeEco says Vizio’s existing management team will continue to run the company from California, but now it will be an independent subsidiary of the Chinese consumer electronics, internet, and software company. Future Vizio smart TVs will run LeEco software.