Leshi last week flagged that it expected a loss of 11.6 billion yuan for 2017 due to the ongoing financial crisis at its founder Jia Yueting's LeEco conglomerate.

Last summer LeEco announced it intended to purchase the US-based TV maker Vizio for US$2 billion. The deal fell through in March amid myriad problems surrounding LeEco, including a major cash crunch. Allegedly the deal included a US$100 million buyer-termination fee and now Vizio has filed suit in a California court to collect payment.

Jia Yueting, founder and chief executive of LeEco, said in a letter to employees this month that the company had burnt through cash too quickly as it expanded into businesses ranging from smartphones to driverless cars.

At an event in San Francisco, LeEco said it would begin selling smartphones and smart TVs in the US on Nov. 2. But Chief Executive Jia Yeuting said in an interview that only 100,000 phones would initially be available, and that he didn't know how many smart TVs will be available by the launch date.

The US market isn't the only reason to buy Vizio, but it's a big one.