(JW Insights) Feb 23 -- Chinese electronics giant TCL and Brazil's Semp Toshiba are predicted to widen cooperation in the photovoltaic business after the founder of the South American firm visited Shenzhen, reported Yicai Global on February 22.
Affonso Brandao Hennel, the 94-year-old former chairman of Semp Toshiba, said to Yicai Global on February 21 that he is hoping for closer collaboration with TCL as the two firms' partnership has been clear and transparent for the past eight years. Besides home appliances, the pair considers expanding its photovoltaic business.
Li Dongsheng, founder and chairman of TCL, said at a meeting with Brandao Hennel that TCL Industrial Holdings' sales in Brazil reached RMB4 billion ($580 million) last year and the goal is to reach RMB10 billion ($1.45 billion) shortly.
TCL and Semp formed Semp TCL in 2016. The JV has two manufacturing bases in Brazil. One of them churned out over two million television sets last year with a nearly 19 percent market share. The second facility, which became operational last year, shipped nearly 300,000 air conditioning units with a market share of 7 percent, said the Yicai Global report.
Yue Haiping, general manager of marketing at TCL's local branch, said, the Chinese firm aims to make its TV brand the second-largest in Brazil next. Besides TV sets and cellphones, the JV could produce refrigerators and washing machines. Moreover, they are talking about solar energy equipment.
Li Yongping, head of TCL's Latin American sales center, said, despite the gap in consumption power between Brazil and Western markets, TCL has been able to save costs and introduce new products in Brazil due to the improving production efficiency and decreasing shipping costs in recent years.
TCL's overseas layout of display and PV products will be promoted in the next few years, according to its Chairman Li Dongsheng, adding that currently, it mainly revolves around consumer devices, as the firm makes display modules in India, as well as PV cells and panels in Malaysia, the Philippines, and Mexico, according to Yicai Global.
(Chen HX)
