LeTV rolls out world's biggest 3D TV and cheap phone

LeTV Holdings Co Ltd has launched a premium smart television and an inexpensive smartphone, targeting China's new rich and tech-savvy young users.

Jia Yueting, founder and CEO of the Beijing-based Internet company, unveiled a 500,000 yuan 3D TV that is more than 2 meters tall and 1.5 meters wide.

"It is ideal for the rich guys in China," Jia said on Tuesday, adding the users will receive a number of content services such as watching blockbuster movies free of charge.

The 120-inch screen is as big as more than 70 iPad Pros put together. The Chinese company said it is the biggest 3D TV commercially available in the world.

LeTV also launched a smartphone, targeting young buyers in the 1,000-1,500 yuan price range.

Jia said the retail price for the device, named Le 1S, will be 300 yuan cheaper than its production cost.

"It is the start of a new era where handset vendors will give away their devices for no profit," he said. "We will use our earnings from the video business to subsidize the sales of Le 1S to enlarge the group of video customers".

The phone will be available by early November.

LeTV sells video programs online to viewers and is by far the key source of profit for the ambitious company which is also planning to build the next-generation of electric cars.

Ding Lei, head of LeTV's smart car unit, said a prototype of Le Car is under test in the United States and a small scale trial production is on the horizon. LeTV has hired a 400-person design team in the US, focusing on car development.

The company also announced it will enter the US market, duplicating the video-plus-hardware business model on the Chinese mainland. No other details were released.

Hong Kong was the first overseas market for LeTV, where it purchased broadcasting rights from the English Premier League this year.

gaoyuan@chinadaily.com.cn