Daily Times

Chinese makers of televisions, smartphones and much more were very much present at the premier Consumer Electronics Show here, undeterred by their country’s trade war with the US.

“Companies are all capitalists, and I think everyone is just holding their breath,” said analyst Patrick Moorhead of Moor Insights and Strategy.

“I think nobody wants to burn any bridges right now, and almost everybody is acting like there are not any issues.”

Titans such as Huawei, TCL, Skyworth, Hisense and Lenovo once again had eye-catching booths on the show floor where throngs of CES goers checked out their latest innovations.

The number of Chinese exhibitors, overall, was down slightly with some smaller companies skipping the show, according to Sarah Brown, communications director of the Consumer Technology Association that runs the annual gadget extravaganza.

TCL showed off new 8K televisions, and teased a set of new smartphones, one of them synched to super-fast 5G telecom networks, aimed specifically at the US market.

“We can see that the relations between China and US are getting better,” TCL overseas business group general manager Harry Wu told AFP.

“At the same time we have a supply chain worldwide, no matter Mexico, Vietnam, India or other countries, we have plans to support our sells in US.”

Wu held firm that TCL has not changed its focus or global business plans due to trade tensions between China and the US.

TCL has gained ground fast in the US television market, and sees an opportunity to take advantage of growing brand recognition by broadening its lineup of devices, according to senior vice president Chris Larson.

“TCL is huge in China but has factories in Mexico, so it ships goods from Mexico factories to get around tariffs,” noted Techsponential analyst Avi Greengart.

China-based Skyworth TV has chosen now to enter the US market with rich, big-screen televisions — one an 8K model priced at $5,999.