TCL charts plan to boost share in telecoms sector

Customers check TCL TV sets at an outlet in Yichang, Hubei province. TCL's overseas market accounted for 46.6 percent of all its businesses last year. Photo: for China Daily/Liu Junfeng)

Chief executive says company is confident of catching up with top global players

TCL Corp, one of China's leading consumer electronics companies, will boost its presence in the telecommunication device segment of the domestic market in 2015 after losing share last year, a top company manager said.

"We won't abandon the domestic telecommunication business, even though exports increased dramatically last year," said Li Dongsheng, president and chief executive officer of TCL.

TCL's domestic sales of telecommunication devices, including phones and tablets, rose 107 percent year-on-year to 2.3 billion yuan ($366.7 million) in 2014, according to the company.

However, domestic sales only represented a fraction of total telecommunication sales, which increased 60.3 percent to 24.5 billion yuan, according to the company.

"We still have a low presence in the domestic telecommunication market, especially in the smartphone sector," said Li.

In the Chinese telecommunication business, overseas brands including Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd have a large market share, creating intense competition for Chinese players, said Li.

"We are confident of catching up with top players, given that we have developed competitive smart devices and more effective sales channels," said Li.

Li made the remarks on Tuesday after the company released its 2014 results in Beijing.

Sales rose 18.4 percent to 101 billion yuan, with net profit up 46.7 percent to 4.23 billion yuan. The overseas market accounted for 46.6 percent of all business last year, mainly driven by its photoelectric and telecommunication products.

The domestic market will become an important growth engine for TCL's telecommunication business in the years ahead, as the company has developed closer relations with the country's key telecommunication service providers, Li said.

"After robust sales in the overseas market, we will increase efforts to tap the domestic market in the telecommunication business," said Li, also a deputy to the National People's Congress.

The NPC is the country's top legislature, and its annual session begins on Thursday.

According to Li, the company sold more than 2 million smartphones in December and January in China, indicating prosperous development for the domestic market.

In a proposal to the legislative meeting, Li said that Chinese companies need to go overseas to increase their competitiveness in the global market. Early in January, TCL announced it had purchased California-based smartphone maker Palm Inc from Hewlett-Packard Co for an undisclosed amount.

"The purchase will boost TCL's presence in the United States by using the development force of Palm, expanding our global market share," said Li. TCL sold more than 70 million smartphones last year, up 33 percent year-on-year, it said.

Sales in the Americas contributed 56 percent of the total for TCL's telecommunication business, with sales increasing 84 percent to 12.7 billion yuan last year, said the company.

"In particular, sales in the US and Colombia increased dramatically," said Chen Zhaode, finance director of TCL's telecommunication business.

Chen said sales of telecommunication devices in emerging markets including Thailand and Bangladesh also increased thanks to the growth of fourth-generation technologies.

"We will increase sales of smart devices including phones and tablets in the emerging markets," said Chen.