TCL is in an enviable moment in the television market. In 2025 managed to sell 20% more TVs while other of its competitors such as Hisense fell. Even Samsung, world leader in sales, fell slightly and the separation with TCL, its most direct rival, is already barely 1% share.
The striking thing about this growth of TCL is in which segment it has occurred: the high-end. Nobody dispatches more MiniLED TVs than them right now and giant screens (85 inches or more) take up more than 22% of the global market.
The coup de effect was the recent announcement of alliance with Sony. The agreement, which is expected to come into operation in April 2027 at the earliest, is the most eloquent sign of how far a company has come that, until not long ago, was seen as good value for money and that’s it.
With all this context, we were able to chat with Carlos Li, CEO of TCL Europe, who explained to us the company’s next steps to continue growing in televisions, but also in other segments such as household appliances.
TCL has conquered the market thanks to a very good quality-price ratio and now I suppose the challenge is the high-end segment. What is your strategy to convince the European consumer to invest three or four thousand euros in a TCL X955For example?
“We are focused on technology and also on giant screens. We believe that bigger, especially if we want to motivate consumers to return to the living room to watch television more often as a family. It takes a good experience to watch games or movies and differentiate itself from other devices, such as phones or tablets. We simply offer bigger screens and better image and sound quality. For more premium products, we are working on improving the experience, both in audio and video, to create an immersive cinema or gaming environment. That’s it which motivates consumers to pay premium prices to get a better product for their daily use.”
Do you see this being a trend across Europe or just in some countries? Is it also happening here in Spain?
“Yes, it has been proven and has been very successful in many markets. First years ago in China, and now in the United States, Europe, emerging markets, Latin America and also in the Middle East. We see this trend because, thanks to better products and larger screens, people are buying more televisions than before, especially high-end products with higher prices. We think we are very competitive in that area.”
The recent news about the manufacturing deal with Sony has generated a lot of buzz. Beyond the volume of business, do you feel that the fact that a brand as demanding as Sony trusts its subsidiary CSOT serves as a definitive validation of TCL’s engineering and all its experience in this field?
“First of all, the possible cooperation between TCL and Sony is still in the phase of a memorandum of understanding (MOU). We are still in the process of migrating from the MOU to a contract, so there are many things under discussion. But the good thing is that both Sony and TCL see the synergy that we can create together due to our capabilities in the industry, especially in the supply chain, R&D, resources in terms of CSOT panels, and our continuous investment in new technological innovations. This creates the synergy. perfect between the two companies for a new joint venture. Everything is still in process, but I think it is good proof that both parties see good added value in the other for the business portfolio.”
I know everything is under discussion right now and it may take time to talk things out, but is there a tentative date to operate together?
“It is a long-term bet, we are at an early stage and the two companies really need to get involved in the new strategy. There will be contracts later, so we do not expect to have an immediate impact on the market in 2026. It is more of a medium-term impact, like five or ten years.”
There is a lot of talk about mini RGB or RGB mini LED as the technology that will surpass OLED and even traditional mini LED. What is TCL’s vision regarding this technology?
“We have been developing Mini RGB technology for years, although we did not announce it before. We believe that SQD is a better display technology with better quality in terms of brightness and contrast. In the end, RGB is a type of mini LED TV with red, green and blue, but it has a higher cost because instead of a single LED light, you need to have three. This technology is not new for us, we have been developing it for eight years, which is why we are also launching our RGB mini LED TV. However, along with that, we will strongly push our “SQD because it is a unique technology in the industry, very robust and linked to our CSOT panel technology. For the moment, we reserve the SQD technology exclusively for our TCL brand, which creates a much better image quality compared to a Mini RGB. So the Mini RGB will be just one of the products in our portfolio.”
Will they prioritize SQD then?
“We believe that SQD will be the main trend for the future. We think it is a better solution as a display technology, which can really surprise the end user while maintaining the original price, and that is why we propose this.”
Appliances, glasses and other areas where TCL also wants its piece of cake
Carlos Li during the inauguration of the new TCL office in Madrid
Many people know TCL for their televisions, but they also have appliances and we are seeing a lot of movement from other manufacturers in this segment. What is TCL’s next move in Europe regarding home appliances?
“In home appliances, and together with air conditioners, we are very strong. We have a complete and integrated supply chain for air conditioners and we are the third largest producer of residential air conditioning in the world. These products are developing very quickly in foreign markets, especially in Latin America and South Asian countries, and now it is happening in Europe. Air conditioning is definitely a rising category, and along with that are white goods, because we have had a white goods supply chain for more than 10 years, added now to the acquisition of HOMA.
The synergies between the two create an opportunity, since the white range is a very important part of consumer electronics. Our goal is to create an ecosystem for all categories, which is why we are launching in most European countries with the main white goods retailers, and for a few years now also in Spain. “We work with Amazon and also with purchasing groups for the white goods range, while for air conditioners we are further developing professional channels for installers and commercial air conditioners.”
The home appliance market has very strong traditional brands and in recent months new manufacturers have been arriving. What do you expect from the home appliance market in Europe this year or even next?
“I think white goods markets are more stable and traditional, with many local European or traditional brands, so the competition is there. The new opportunity we see in the market is differentiation. We are looking for ways to be more different in terms of innovation, energy efficiency, more Artificial Intelligence functions, design, and offer more capacity for users in products of similar dimensions.
What differential uses do you see of AI in household appliances?
With more AI you can have more precise freezing for food and more precision in washing to save water and energy, but providing a better service for fresh food. The idea is to move towards more premium sectors, focusing on AI or products with greater energy efficiency, and to differentiate ourselves to focus on the mid- and high-end range. That’s where we believe there is the most room and potential to grow; Otherwise, you are plunged into the middle of price wars and competition by offering undifferentiated products, which makes competition even more difficult.”
And what is TCL’s position on AI? Is it a fad or really something useful in the consumer technology sector?
“AI is a concept to really facilitate people’s daily lives and make it easier for consumers to use products or get additional services from technology. In our product system, we aim for AI to make it more friendly and convenient for customers to use. For televisions, for example, we will introduce Gemini in the new premium products.”
This year or in the near future?
“Possibly in Q2 or Q3 we will see the new Gemini update. For AI solutions in smartphones, we are working to generate more solutions for efficiency. Also to provide assistance to consumers, for example with AI glasses for translation, GPS and to have more content with the glasses. Also, one power is the ‘AI companion’, in which we are in very close development. It is not on the market yet, but it is a new area that we really hope to launch to bring new needs to daily life of consumers, giving them companion products in their portfolio.”
We recently learned that Asus is leaving the smartphone business. How would you describe TCL’s current situation in the smartphone market?
“Smartphones have been one of our core businesses for 20 years. There are very few brands with all ecosystems, covering all consumer electronics, home appliances and also telecommunications products. For smartphones, we are upgrading our entry-level products to mid- and high-end ones, introducing more AI technologies and focusing on how to improve the user experience.”
Where do you think TCL will be in Europe in the next five years or what goal would you like to achieve?
“Our strategy and goal is to really provide high-quality products and services for consumers. We want to provide more environmentally friendly (ESG) products and introduce more products with AI. Our goal is to use more premium products with all categories: not only in TV and audio, but also in air conditioners, white goods, telecommunications products and all display technologies related to video games or digital synergy products.
What we are really striving to improve is how we can provide a more integrated ecosystem for consumers that covers all categories and connects them together.
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