TCL Comeback Gains Momentum with Italy Deals TCL牵手意大利 复苏之势获动力
Cellphone and TV maker TCL (Shenzhen: 000001) is further solidifying its budding comeback, with the announcement of $300 million in new deals to sell its products in Italy. (English article) What’s most interesting to me in this latest announcement, which doesn’t provide much specifics, is that celllphones seem to be providing more and more of the company’s recent return from the dead. Some may recall that TCL, through its TCL Communication (HKEx: 2618) arm, burst onto the mobile phone scene about a decade ago by selling smart-looking, low cost phones to new China mobile customers. But it later fell onto hard times due to lack of new designs and a disastrous purchase of Alcatel’s handset business. Meantime, sister company TCL Multimedia (HKEx: 1070), TCL’s television unit, also went through some hard times after its similarly difficult purchase of Thomson Electronics’ TV arm in 2005. TCL’s TV and cellphone businesses have both come back in the last two years, though handsets are clearly growing much faster. TCL’s handset sales in the first five months of the year grew 39 percent, versus just 13 percent growth for its LCD television sales. (English article) The company seems to be taking a cue from provincial rival ZTE (HKEx: 763; Shenzhen: 000063) in finding a niche for developing low-cost smartphones based on the Android operating system. The TV business also got a shot in the arm in April, when Samsung (Seoul: 005930) invested in TCL’s state-of-the-art LCD plant in Shenzhen. (previou
s post) With that tie-up set to help boost TV sales and momentum in the cellphone business, I’d look for TCL’s strong comeback to continue for at least the next one to two years.
Bottom line: TCL’s new $300 million worth of deals in Italy underscore its recent comeback, which should continue at least for the next 1-2 years.
中国手机和电视制造商TCL集团<000100.SZ>正进一步巩固其卷土重来之势，宣称与意大利客户签下总额达3亿美元的销售合约。在我看来，这则声明最有趣的地方在於，手机业务似乎越来越成为TCL起死回生的法宝。有人或许还能回想起来，TCL大约十年前试水手机领域，向中国刚刚兴起的移动客户提供外形漂亮但价格低廉的手机，但因缺乏新设计并错误地购买了阿尔卡特的手机业务，TCL陷入到困局中。与此同时，TCL旗下电视机生产企业——TCL 多媒体<1070.HK>在2005年收购法国汤姆逊电子的电视部门後也经历了一段困难时期。TCL的电视和手机业务在过去两年中均有所复苏，尽管手机业务的发展速度明显快很多。TCL今年前五个月的手机销售增长了39%，而其液晶电视机的销售只有13%的增长率。TCL在开发基於安卓操作系统的低成本智能手机时似乎从竞争对手中兴通讯<000063.SZ> <0763.HK>那里获得了灵感。TCL的电视业务4月份也获得了动力，因三星电子<005930.KS>向TCL位於深圳的液晶电视机厂投资。这笔投资势必有助於推动其电视机的销量和手机业务的发展。我预计TCL的强力反弹之势至少会在未来一到两年延续。
一句话：TCL在意大利签署的新协议再次印证了其近些日子的反弹之势，且这种趋势至少为延续到未来一到两年。
Related postings 相关文章:
◙ TCL on the Comeback Trail With Samsung Tie-Up TCL与三星结盟 重振旗鼓
◙ China TV Makers Lack Right Stuff to Profit fom Sony Woes 索尼遭殃谁受益？
◙ ZTE: Ready for a Breather 中兴通讯：遇到了减速带
