Li Dongsheng
- Producer
After school, he studied engineering at Huanan University of Technology. In 1982 he graduated there as a television engineer. That same year, Li joined a small electronics company in his hometown as a technician, which had been founded there in 1981 under the name TTK Home Appliances Company, Ltd. The company expanded rapidly. In 1985, Li rose to general manager of the company, which was now called TCL Communication Equipment Company. As deputy manager of the Huizhou Municipal Electronic Communication Corporation, he came into contact with global players in the electronics industry in 1990, encouraging them to enter into joint ventures with Chinese companies in Huizhou. In 1996, he was appointed chairman and president of TCL Corporation. However, as a result of the Asian crisis, the company suffered major sales losses from 1997 onwards.
Li drew the strategic conclusion from the crisis that he would have to make the group competitive on the international market in the future. TCL therefore began to position itself on the international television electronics market with avant-garde products in the late 1990s. The group now has 30 global branches. The product range has long extended beyond televisions and also includes rice cookers, washing machines and other household electronics. Li also tried to establish himself as a global player by buying up foreign brands. In 2002, TCL took over the bankrupt German company Schneider. In 2004, TCL merged with Thomson's television division to become the world's largest producer of television sets. However, after eight months of collaboration, the partnership between the French cell phone manufacturer Alcatel and TCL collapsed in mid-May 2005. The purchases of recent years are also making themselves felt in the first losses. Nevertheless, Li Dongsheng is sticking to his strategy of turning TCL into a "Chinese Sony or Samsung."
Li drew the strategic conclusion from the crisis that he would have to make the group competitive on the international market in the future. TCL therefore began to position itself on the international television electronics market with avant-garde products in the late 1990s. The group now has 30 global branches. The product range has long extended beyond televisions and also includes rice cookers, washing machines and other household electronics. Li also tried to establish himself as a global player by buying up foreign brands. In 2002, TCL took over the bankrupt German company Schneider. In 2004, TCL merged with Thomson's television division to become the world's largest producer of television sets. However, after eight months of collaboration, the partnership between the French cell phone manufacturer Alcatel and TCL collapsed in mid-May 2005. The purchases of recent years are also making themselves felt in the first losses. Nevertheless, Li Dongsheng is sticking to his strategy of turning TCL into a "Chinese Sony or Samsung."