TCL's TV set sales up 15.9% in 2020

TV Sales Volume of TCL Electronics in 2020 Reached 23.93 Million, Overshoots Its Sales Target and Hits a New High

HONG KONG — TCL Electronics Holdings Limited (“TCL Electronics” or “the Company”, HKSE stock code: 01070.HK) announced that its sales volumes of TCL brand TV in the fourth quarter of 2020 (from October to December) increased by 20.2% year on year to 6.61 million sets. The sales volumes in the whole year of 2020 (from January to December) reached 23.93 million sets with a year-on-year growth of 15.9%, overshooting its sales target and hitting a new high.

In spite of COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the Company leveraged its globally deployed production capacity and advantages in vertical integration for the industry chain to seize sales opportunities as markets rebounded. The sales volume of TCL brand TVs in 2020 kept strong growth momentum. Meanwhile, the Company kept enhancing its product competitiveness and brand power and improving its product mix. The sales volume of its smart TVs and 4K TVs increased by 24.1% and 26.3% year-on-year, respectively. The proportions of smart TVs and 4K TVs increased by 6.0 percentage points and 4.5 percentage points year-on-year, which accounted for 91.3% and 55.6% of the overall sales volume, respectively. With a year-on-year growth of 2.8 percentage points, the proportion of Quantum Dot TVs, which were mostly sold to overseas markets, reached 3.4%. With best-in-class Mini LED backlight technology, the Company was the first in the industry to achieve mass production for Mini LED TVs, and its sales volume of Mini LED TVs led the pack.

In overseas markets, the annual sales volume of TCL brand TV of the Company reached 17.13 million sets, up by 27.2% year-on-year and recorded strong sales growth in most regional markets. In North America, its annual sales volume rose by 25.4% year-on-year. In Europe, sales volume in 2020 rose 66.0% year-on-year. Especially, sales volume of France, Italy and Nordic notably increased by 20.7%, 24.2% and 85.6%, respectively. In the emerging markets, the Company further expanded its distribution channels and sales volume in 2020 surged by 19.4%. Specifically, sales volume in Japan, Brazil, Australia, Indonesia and Russia notably increased by 181.3%, 67.9%, 45.9%, 40.8% and 31.4%, respectively.

Sales in the PRC market continued on a streak of growth in the fourth quarter in 2020, which witnessed a year-on-year growth of 7.5% and a quarter-on-quarter growth of 34.4%. The sales volume in 2020 slightly declined to 6.8 million sets, which was mainly due to the shut-down of most offline stores in February and March last year because of COVID-19 pandemic, creating a slack season during the first quarter. Smart TVs and 4K TVs accounted for 92.0% and 63.7% of the fourth quarter’s sales volume and 89.8% and 64.2% of the sales volume in 2020, up by 6.9 percentage points year-on-year and 4.3 percentage points year-on-year, respectively. The Company kept optimizing its product mix and channel structure in the PRC market to further enhance stronger competitiveness.

Smart mobile and connective device business was consolidated for the first time in September 2020.The sales volume of smart mobile and connective device from September to December of 2020 reached 11.7 million sets, up by 14.1% year-on-year compared with the same period of 2019.

In 2020, the Company further expanded the user base for its Internet business. As of 31 Dec 2020, the number of monthly active users reached 17.91 million, up by 15.5% year-on-year.

TCL Electronics is committed to developing the smart display industry and striving to serve global users. Its global market share keep rising over the past three years. In the first three quarters of 2020, the Company ranked among global top 3 in terms of sales volume of branded TVs. As a Chinese leading player in the smart display industry, the Company made concerted efforts to fight against COVID-19 pandemic and successfully overshot its sales target in 2020. In 2021, it will further ramp up R&D and product innovation, focusing on AI as well as advanced display technologies like Mini LED, 8K, and Quantum Dot. Meanwhile, it keeps broadening its global market share and thereby consolidate its leading position. In addition, as continuing focuses on Internet business, the Company will insist on its “AI x IoT” strategy to become a world-leading smart technology company and create more value for its shareholders.

The whole year of 2020 and the fourth quarter of 2020 (Unaudited)

                           January to  January to     Y-o-Y  October to  October to     Y-o-Y
                             December    December    Change    December    December    Change
                                 2020        2019       (%)        2020        2019       (%)
                           ----------  ----------  --------  ----------  ----------  --------
TCL Brand TV sales volume  23,927,464  20,641,617     15.9%   6,606,898   5,495,654     20.2%      
- PRC Market                6,799,548   7,179,202     -5.3%   2,312,870   2,151,303      7.5%
- Overseas Markets         17,127,916  13,462,415     27.2%   4,294,028   3,344,351     28.4%             
Proportion of TCL Brand
- Smart TV(%)                   91.3%       85.3%  +6.0p.p.       93.4%       86.5%  +6.9p.p.
- 4K TV(%)                      55.6%       51.1%  +4.5p.p.       59.6%       57.0%  +2.6p.p.