The North American market, as a representative region of high-end and high maturity, has always been a key territory for brands to advance globally.

Over the past 20 years, Chinese manufacturing companies have successively gone abroad, gradually establishing their own mid-to-high-end brands in North America. Today, in Best Buy's offline stores, not only are there industry leaders like TCL and Hisense, but also products from companies like Ninebot and NIU Technologies.

However, the business journey across the ocean has never been smooth sailing. Take TCL as an example. In 2004, TCL acquired Thomson's global TV business, becoming a global landmark event. Subsequently, TCL established a North American subsidiary to expand the market. The next few years encountered setbacks. It was only after experiencing losses and breakthroughs that profitability was restored. Now, 20 years after the acquisition, the TCL brand has gained a firm foothold in North America, competing alongside Samsung, LG, and Sony.

The story of the North American market will continue. Meanwhile, companies have faced more intense environmental fluctuations in recent years, with localized operations and supply chain systems undergoing greater tests.

TCL's North American Campaign

TCL is one of the earliest Chinese companies to go international, with "globalization means localization" as its development strategy. In the smart terminal field, TCL brand TV global shipments increased by 12.9% year-on-year in the first half of 2023, with shipment market share ranking second globally. In the first three quarters of 2023, TCL TV shipments in the North American market increased by 11.4% year-on-year, ranking third in the US market.

According to several industry insiders, TCL's growth in the North American market is supported by multiple factors. On one hand, it benefited from the foundation laid by early acquisitions, paving the way for localization. Secondly, in the home appliance industry chain, domestic manufacturers have made great strides. TCL has already deployed the entire industry chain, from upstream CSOT panels to diversified terminal products, which can no longer be simply summarized as home appliances. Taking high-end manufacturing panels as an example, while still catching up in OLED, it can be said that in LCD displays, tech manufacturers led by TCL and BOE are already in the first tier alongside Korean manufacturers.

Moreover, TCL's localized production capacity has been deployed for a long time, which has greatly reduced costs for large-scale manufacturing. TCL founder Li Dongsheng has always emphasized the globalization of the supply chain. For the North American market, TCL has multiple production bases in Mexico. Since 2018, TCL has expanded the TCL Mexico MOKA factory and built the new TCL Mexico MASA factory to avoid trade barriers and continuously maintain US market share.

In addition, TCL has focused on IP in brand building in recent years, especially targeting the NFL in sports marketing. In North American sports culture, the NFL is absolutely top-tier, with basically 2/3 of adults (12 years and older) being NFL fans. We became an official NFL partner last year and are the exclusive title sponsor in the TV category.

Globalization in Progress

Despite the current surge of anti-globalization sentiment, Chinese companies' globalization strategies will continue. For example, TCL's business currently covers more than 160 countries and regions worldwide, with 32 manufacturing bases globally. Among them, the smart terminal business has established production bases in countries such as Poland, Mexico, Brazil, and India. In semiconductor displays, TCL CSOT's Indian factory has officially started operations. In new energy photovoltaics, TCL Zhonghuan has also deployed photovoltaic cell and module factories in Malaysia, the Philippines, Mexico, the Middle East, and other places.

Executives from multiple domestic consumer electronics companies told the 21st Century Business Herald that under saturated domestic competition, going overseas is a must-choose option to expand into larger markets.

This is reflected not only in the competition among top companies but also in the overall industry chain competition. For example, in terms of innovative companies this year, the Korean pavilion at CES had a large number of companies participating, from artificial intelligence to robotics, with numerous companies.

Emerging Chinese companies are also actively deploying. For instance, in the Hong Kong pavilion, the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation led 20 startups to showcase their scientific research capabilities overseas, covering multiple tracks such as AI, life and health, advanced manufacturing, and sustainable development. For example, Gide Tech Limited's "GUIDi Smart Belt" can navigate for the blind, integrating technologies such as AI large models, deep computing chips, vibration technology, and self-developed camera modules to help the blind in their daily lives through vibration reminders from the belt.

Looking ahead, globalization will continue to be one of the themes of global economic development, and Chinese companies will play an increasingly important role in the new process of globalization.

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