Exclusive Interview
Exclusive Interview Building on Core Competitiveness Exclusive Interview - Li Dongsheng, Chairman and CEO, TCL Last year TCL revealed a number of major innovations at IFA. This is even more the case this year. What are you most proud of? TCL won the 2014 IFA Technical Innovation Award and Quantum Dot Display Technology Gold Award, showing the technical strength and creativity of the TCL brand. We were honored to receive this recognition from industry players. We believe that Quantum Dot technology will become a mainstream in the area of display. TCL has been engaged in its research and application into products, such as the H9700 and the H8800 Quantum Dot TV, in order to provide customers with more authentic, intelligent and amazing home entertainment experience with Quantum Dot technology. How are thing progressing with regard to ramping up the new section of the China Star fab? What will this mean for the industry as a whole? China Star (CSOT) is committed to becoming a leading display technology company with remarkable value innovation capabilities. CSOT will have to maintain its operating efficiency and effectiveness to continue performing well in a new market cycle. In addition, we will continue to invest in technology development and patent accumulation to strengthen the technologies and techniques. We are optimistic for the whole business this year, and I believe that this year's global market will maintain a good balance between supply and demand. What are your ambitions for TCL? TCL Group positions itself as a globalized business of intelligent product manufacturing and Internet application services. TCL will build its core competitiveness on the basis of its manufacturing capability, and will continue to differentiate itself with the momentum from In 2015, TCL Group set out a ‘Double Wheel’ development strategy: to acquire new business capabilities and enlarge its share in overseas markets through globalization both the "Double Plus" transformation strategy and internationalization, so as to drive stable growth for TCL and continue providing users with products and services that deliver exceptional experience. By leveraging brands like Thomson and Alcatel OneTouch, you have opened major new channels to the market. Do you have any other acquisitions on the drawing board? In 2015, TCL Group set out a ‘Double Wheel’ development strategy: to acquire new business capabilities and enlarge its share in overseas markets through globalization. In January 2015, TCL Communication acquired Palm and restructured Palm's business model to facilitate the construction of an intelligent and Internet industry platform centered on user experience. By leveraging the brand awareness of Palm in North America, TCL will further enhance its competitiveness in the North American market. What do you feel are the keys to TCL’s success in Europe – so far and for the future? The overseas markets contributed 47% of TCL’s sales revenue in 2014. Its mobile phones, in particular, have performed strongly overseas. Last year TCL sold a total of 73.4 million mobile phone units, among which 86% were sold overseas, with the largest buyers being North America and Europe. TCL’s success in internationalization is attributable to two factors: an open mind and cultural tolerance. For localization to succeed it is important to ensure that we develop local expertise through mergers and acquisitions. How important is IFA as part of your overall marketing strategy? IFA is one of the world’s largest and most influential electronics fairs, with comprehensive presentation of the most cutting-edge consumer electronics products and technical Li Dongsheng Chairman and CEO, TCL trends. We are honored to showcase our products here. With more than a decade of experience behind it, TCL has entered a stage of steady expansion in its internationalization, so we highly value this platform, which allows us to exchange with other global industry leaders, as well as prospective customers. In the future, TCL will further improve its overseas sales channels, enhance its product R&D and innovation, and further explore the global market for new opportunities for expansion. TCL was founded in 1981. In the past 30 years, it has developed from a small joint venture of tape production in Huizhou, gradually expanding its business to telephone, television, mobile phone, refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners, small appliances, LCD panels and other fields, creating multiple firsts including most recently the world's largest (110-inch) 4K LCD TV. 28
Exclusive Interview NEW 9600 FLAGSHIP PHILIPS UHD TV features 4-sided Ambilight and High Dynamic Range performance for the ultimate picture quality Bright Premium system with an HDR panel produces 1000 Nit light output, for an incredibly lifelike picture with vivid colours and brightness Micro Dimming Premium and direct LED backlighting provides superior contrast with deep, velvety blacks and brightest whites Award winning picture processing elevates 4K UHD picture quality to a whole new level for a razor sharp image from any source 4-sided Ambilight and elegant design, for the most beautiful and immersive TV and movie experience Certified by Google, Philips 9600 series delivers an enhanced Android TVV Smart TV experience PURE DESIGN AND SOUND INNOVATION The 9600 comes with a very slim metal bezel around its 164cm (65’’) screen and the chrome ‘blade’ feet enhance its elegant European design. The TV’s clean design, premium materials and high-end finish are complemented beautifully by the foursided Ambilight halo. Completing the stunning design is an integrated super-slim polished metal soundbar that is attached just below the screen. The soundbar includes two forward firing tweeters that combine with three rear-firing subwoofer drivers within the set and 50W of onboard power to offer a huge but detailed and rich sound performance. The 9600 also includes DTS Premium Sound technology to ensure powerful bass and crystal clear dialogue making the set perfectly suited to regular TV, music or the latest blockbuster movies. Dominating the Android TV Market Philips TV differentiates with image quality, Ambilight and smart functions In the first half of 2015 we have seen good market share growth for Philips TV in Europe in spite of the difficult market circumstances. We asked Nico Vernieuwe – Chief Commercial Officer, TP Vision to tell us more… In particular in the fast growing UHD segment, we have seen good improvements. We managed to increase our UHD Market Share from 10% in 2014 to 13% in the first half of 15 and become No3 in Europe. Our Android-based Smart TV is gaining a lot of traction in the market with the way it changes the experience of the consumer in interacting with the TV, where the TV is regaining its position as a central hub in the home in entertainment, communication and home automation. We led the Android TV market segment with 70% market share in the first half of 2015. Finally, we improved the share of our Ambilight sales from 25% last year to 30% year to date. What are the main factors when it comes to differentiating a TV today? We know that picture quality is the main purchase criterion for the consumer. We use our long heritage and award winning innovations to deliver consumers superior image quality independent of source – whether it’s Ultra HD or Full HD resolution. Furthermore, we focus on how consumers are changing their interaction with TV and the content they consume. We have therefore changed our operating system to Android TV offering both speed of interactivity and access to a large base of relevant apps. Lastly, as a European brand, we understand the European living rooms where our TVs live, and are proud of delivering designs for our TVs that blend into the environment and radiate the performance of the TV set. Also, our design again has been granted multiple awards. What are your key goals at IFA this year? This year at IFA we continue to show innovation in our 5 pillars: Picture Quality, Smart TV, Ambilight, Sound and Design. We will show TVs that make steps in each of these areas while also offering a full range of UHD TVs for each budget. Our goal is to show our well-rounded range to our retail partners and continue to grow our share in the market. Are you looking to develop new territories or channels? We are expanding our business in the Middle East / Africa region where we still see potential for growth. Furthermore, we still see a lot of opportunities with our existing retail partners either in growing the business together in a fully integrated omni-channel approach or by joining their regional expansion. What can people expect to see at your stand? In our stand we will focus on showing our new innovations in picture quality, especially in the area of Ultra HD and High dynamic range, we will show new audio solutions beautifully integrated into the total TV design, the next step in Ambilight performance, and of course Nico Vernieuwe Chief Commercial Officer, TP Vision the TV is regaining its position as a central hub in the home in entertainment, communication and home automation the benefits that Android TV can bring to the user experience as 80% of the 2015 range are running on the new Android TV OS. www.ifa-international.org IFA International • Monday 7 th September 2015 29
