Alcatel One Touch starts production in Brazil

Alcatel One Touch, manufacturer of mobile phones belonging to Chinese group TCL, yesterday announced the start of the sale and manufacture of smartphones and tablets in Brazil. The production will be made in Manaus for a company specialized in manufacturing custom electronics. Neither the name of the supplier, or the investment in the production were revealed. Local production has been studied since 2011. Despite the name, Alcatel One Touch has no connection with network equipment maker Alcatel-Lucent.
According to Marcos Daniel, President of the Alcatel One Touch in Brazil, the local manufacturing is important to improve customer service locations and take advantage of the exemption of PIS and Cofins on selling locally produced smartphones, announced in April.
At first, the company will put on sale three smartphones and a tablet mounted in Brazil. Smartphones will arrive at retail in the second half of August with prices ranging between $ 399 and $ 1,000. The tablet will come at the same time and will be sold exclusively by TIM carrier, still without a price set.
According to Daniel, the prices of smartphones can be even lower if retailers enforce the 9.25% discount of PIS and Cofins at the time of purchase. According to the Executive, two more templates will be released by the end of the year.
In Brazil a decade ago, Alcatel One Touch only the simplest devices sold in the country, known as "feature phones". According to Daniel, in 2012 the company reached 7% of the market share of Brazil's phones, in number of devices sold, which left her in fourth place, behind Samsung, Nokia and LG with the launch of smartphones, tablets, and new "feature phones", the goal is to double the sales in the country in 2013. "We will strengthen the marketing, in exposing more to the public," said the Executive.
For Christian Gatti, Vice President of Alcatel One Touch for Latin America, with the strengthening of the operation in Brazil the company intends to take the third place of the telephony market in the region, a position currently occupied by LG. According to Thomas Liu, Chief Financial Officer of TCL Communications, responsible for Alcatel One Touch brand, growth in Brazil is important to the process of international expansion of the brand in the world. With revenues of nearly $ 10 billion in 2012, the TCL has more than 60 thousand employees and sells products such as cell phones, electronics and appliances.
Over the past two years, the TCL has been studying the sale of own-label products in Brazil. Currently, in addition to the sale of mobile phones, the company operates in the country by providing technology to TV sets and air conditioners sold by other manufacturers, such as Britain, owner of the Philco brand. According to Daniel, the idea is to bring to the country the products area of TCL multimedia such as TVs.
Studies to bring products with the brand TCL in the country advanced in recent months and representatives of the array have already come to Brazil to talk to retailers. In August last year, the Chairman of the Board and founder of TCL, Li Dongsheng, said to the value that the sale of products of the TCL could occur this year. But, according to Daniel, it will not be possible. "To 2013 does not give more time," he said. There is no new deadline for the start of operations with his own brand.