Skyworth Thailand, the marketer of China's Skyworth appliance brand, has been authorised to market and distribute Toshiba TV sets in Thailand in place of Toshiba Thailand, which will focus on home appliances such as refrigerators, air conditioners, washing machines and kitchen equipment.
Wang Jing, managing director of Skyworth Thailand, said the company was appointed by Toshiba Corporation in Japan to market and distribute Toshiba TVs starting on April 1.
Skyworth also handles distribution and after-sale service, adhering to Toshiba's standards.
Skyworth Thailand will produce Skyworth, Toshiba and Coocaa TVs. Toshiba TVs will be sold offline, and Coocaa TVs will be sold online.
"We will put our efforts into creating a strong foothold for all of our TV brands this year before expanding into the home appliance market next year," Mr Wang said.
With Toshiba's strong brand awareness in Thailand, the company sees about 50% of sales at Skyworth Thailand stemming from Toshiba TV, with 40-45% coming from the Skyworth brand. The remaining 5-10% of sales will be from Coocaa.
"Chinese TV brands are more accepted by Thai consumers," Mr Wang said. "Sales of Skyworth TVs have gradually increased each year. We've sold about 70,000 Skyworth TVs out of a total of 2.4 million TV sets in Thailand in 2018, up from 60,000 sets in 2017. This is a good sign."
The Skyworth brand entered Thailand seven years ago, offering TVs, video walls and whiteboards. Sales were 500 million baht last year, with the figure expected to rise to 1.5 billion baht this year.
The company plans to spend 50 million baht this year to promote all three TV brands to Thai consumers. The distribution channels for Skyworth and the product line-ups will also be expanded.
Mr Wang said the company is scheduled to launch refrigerators and washing machines in the Thai market next year.