Sampo Corp (
The Chinese television manufacturer TCL announced Monday a joint venture with rival Thomson to create the world's largest producer of TV sets. The venture company will be called TCL-Thomson Electronics.
"We don't have details about TCL-Thomson Electronics' product line so far ... but we believe we have a good chance to win more [LCD and PDP-TV] orders from TCL as a result of the deal," Sampo deputy spokesman Kanty Wu (
Sampo has collaborated with TCL for almost a decade, Wu said. The Taiwanese company produces refrigerators for TCL on a contract basis and it has also set up a joint venture with TCL, Rechi Precision Co (
Sampo also manufactures PDP-TVs for Thomson on a contract basis, industry analysts said. Wu declined to confirm the company's partnership with the French consumer electronics company that now owns the RCA brand.
Sampo, which expects to ship 400,000 TVs next year, said it will stick to the strategy of selling brand-name products in Taiwan, while providing outsourcing services for European or US brand-name home-appliance vendors, Wu said.
The new TCL-Thomson venture is likely to bring more orders to Sampo, an analyst said.
The contribution from the original equipment manufacturing (OEM) and original design manufacturing (ODM) side is expected to increase to about 50 percent within the next few years due to the deal, said Chen Yen-liang (
During the first nine months, OEM and ODM businesses accounted for 30 to 40 percent of Sampo's consolidated revenues of NT$17.13 billion.
Another analyst, however, said the creation of the new venture is likely to negatively affect local home-appliance makers while selling their products abroad.
"It's a challenge for local home-appliance makers to sell their products overseas with or without the TCL-Thomson joint venture," said Helen Chen (
"Taiwanese companies can only make a profit by selling brand-name products to local consumers on effective cost control. Without that advantage, they are unable to compete with their international rivals in Europe and North America," she added.
Rival Teco Group (東元) said the TCL-Thomson deal could create an additional hurdle for local companies wanting to sell their branded TV sets to European consumers as the deal will enhance Thomson's edge due to lower production costs in China. But smaller rival Sanyo Electric Co (Taiwan) (台灣三洋電機), said it doesn't see the deal having a serious impact on local companies.
Sampo shares rose by N$0.3, or 1.91 percent, to close at NT$16.0, while Teco were unchanged at NT$12.05 on the TAIEX yesterday. The Hong Kong-listed TCL closed 1.7 percent lower to finish at HK$2.875 (US$0.369).
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) secured a record 70.2 percent share of the global foundry business in the second quarter, up from 67.6 percent the previous quarter, and continued widening its lead over second-placed Samsung Electronics Co, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said on Monday. TSMC posted US$30.24 billion in sales in the April-to-June period, up 18.5 percent from the previous quarter, driven by major smartphone customers entering their ramp-up cycle and robust demand for artificial intelligence chips, laptops and PCs, which boosted wafer shipments and average selling prices, TrendForce said in a report. Samsung’s sales also grew in the second quarter, up
On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump weighed in on a pressing national issue: The rebranding of a restaurant chain. Last week, Cracker Barrel, a Tennessee company whose nationwide locations lean heavily on a cozy, old-timey aesthetic — “rocking chairs on the porch, a warm fire in the hearth, peg games on the table” — announced it was updating its logo. Uncle Herschel, the man who once appeared next to the letters with a barrel, was gone. It sparked ire on the right, with Donald Trump Jr leading a charge against the rebranding: “WTF is wrong with Cracker Barrel?!” Later, Trump Sr weighed
HEADWINDS: Upfront investment is unavoidable in the merger, but cost savings would materialize over time, TS Financial Holding Co president Welch Lin said TS Financial Holding Co (台新新光金控) said it would take about two years before the benefits of its merger with Shin Kong Financial Holding Co (新光金控) become evident, as the group prioritizes the consolidation of its major subsidiaries. “The group’s priority is to complete the consolidation of different subsidiaries,” Welch Lin (林維俊), president of the nation’s fourth-largest financial conglomerate by assets, told reporters during its first earnings briefing since the merger took effect on July 24. The asset management units are scheduled to merge in November, followed by life insurance in January next year and securities operations in April, Lin said. Banking integration,
LOOPHOLES: The move is to end a break that was aiding foreign producers without any similar benefit for US manufacturers, the US Department of Commerce said US President Donald Trump’s administration would make it harder for Samsung Electronics Co and SK Hynix Inc to ship critical equipment to their chipmaking operations in China, dealing a potential blow to the companies’ production in the world’s largest semiconductor market. The US Department of Commerce in a notice published on Friday said that it was revoking waivers for Samsung and SK Hynix to use US technologies in their Chinese operations. The companies had been operating in China under regulations that allow them to import chipmaking equipment without applying for a new license each time. The move would revise what is known
RSS