Chinese hardware manufacturer TCL Corp is launching operations in Brazil through a join venture with local electronics manufacturer Semp.
The joint venture has started with a modest spending pot of R$200m ($62m), 60 percent of which being Semp’s investment and the remainder from TCL, according to Brazilian newspaper Valor Econômico.
Semp TCL will be active across the consumer electronics market, with audio, video and computing items, as well as portable gadgets and TVs.
“We’ve started up late in Brazil but we believe we can develop things well and that this will be a key market for TCL,” the company’s head Li Dongsheng told Valor.
Li added that the country reached “rock bottom,” but that things should improve within the next couple of years and that now “it’s a good moment to invest in Brazil.”
The new company will have three consumer brands, Semp, TCL and also Toshiba, through a brand licensing deal — the Japanese company, previously a major Semp stakeholder, ended the production of items under the Semp Toshiba electronics brand, one of the most well-known in the Brazilian market earlier this year as it decided to focus on the enterprise market.
TCL is known outside Brazil as a noteworthy player in the smartphone segment, the world’s 10th largest in the segment, according to research firm Gartner. It also owns Alcatel, which has already been present in Brazil for decades – according to Li, Alcatel’s operations in Brazil will remain unchanged.