TCL charts plan to boost share in telecoms sector

"After robust sales in the overseas market, we will increase efforts to tap the domestic market in the telecommunication business," said Li, also a deputy to the National People's Congress.

The NPC is the country's top legislature, and its annual session begins on Thursday.

According to Li, the company sold more than 2 million smartphones in December and January in China, indicating prosperous development for the domestic market.

In a proposal to the legislative meeting, Li said that Chinese companies need to go overseas to increase their competitiveness in the global market. Early in January, TCL announced it had purchased California-based smartphone maker Palm Inc from Hewlett-Packard Co for an undisclosed amount.

"The purchase will boost TCL's presence in the United States by using the development force of Palm, expanding our global market share," said Li. TCL sold more than 70 million smartphones last year, up 33 percent year-on-year, it said.

Sales in the Americas contributed 56 percent of the total for TCL's telecommunication business, with sales increasing 84 percent to 12.7 billion yuan last year, said the company.

"In particular, sales in the US and Colombia increased dramatically," said Chen Zhaode, finance director of TCL's telecommunication business.

Chen said sales of telecommunication devices in emerging markets including Thailand and Bangladesh also increased thanks to the growth of fourth-generation technologies.

"We will increase sales of smart devices including phones and tablets in the emerging markets," said Chen.