LeEco plans to start selling VR headsets in India

By Supantha Mukherjee and Sai Sachin R

(Reuters) - Chinese consumer electronics maker LeEco <300104.SZ> plans to start selling virtual reality headsets and launch smart TVs in India in the June quarter, months after entering the country with its smartphone range, a company executive said.

LeEco's VR headset, Le 3D Helmet, will come equipped with a 5.5 inch, 2K resolution screen with a 70 degree field of view. It was launched in China in September.

Virtual reality (VR) is seen as the next big thing in technology but not many devices are available for sale in India.

Oculus, the VR company Facebook Inc bought in 2014, started accepting pre-orders this month for its much-awaited headset, Rift, which is priced at $599.

 

Atul Jain, India chief operating officer of LeEco, declined to disclose the price of the company's VR device.

LeEco, formerly known as LeTV, entered India earlier this month with the launch of two smartphones - Le 1s, priced at 10,999 rupees ($162), and Le Max, priced at 32,999 rupees.

The company, which got more than 300,000 registrations for a flash sale of the phones scheduled for Feb. 2 on e-commerce website Flipkart [IPO-FLPK.N], said it doesn't expect any supply glitches even if all those registrants convert into customers.

"I'm actually expecting a much bigger (registration) number by the time the flash sales begin," Jain said.

The company's China-based rivals, OnePlus and Xiaomi, had faced problems as demand outstripped supply, leading to a delay in deliveries.

LeEco sells roughly half a million smartphones in China every month, Jain said. "There is a huge amount of production capacity available."

Founded in 2004, LeEco started selling smartphones in China in April last year and has sold 4 million of them so far, said Jain, who earlier worked at Samsung Electronics <005930.KS>.

LeEco also plans to gradually bring all its products, including Netflix-like streaming service and electric cars, to India.

The company has already tied up with ErosNow and YuppTV for providing online content and is in talks with others companies for possible partnerships.

Jain declined to comment on any partnership talks with RelianceJio, telecom arm of Reliance Industries Ltd , which is building India's biggest 4G telecommunications network.

(Reporting by Supantha Mukherjee and Sai R Sachin in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)