HONG KONG: The largest consumer electronics maker on the mainland said the company has sold more than 500,000 electrical appliances in two months under the central government's subsidy plan.

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of TCL Corporation Thomson Li expects the government policy of subsidizing rural households to boost home-appliance sales, particularly his company's.

"We hope the sales of subsidized products will account for 60 to 75 percent of total sales in the rural market," Li said yesterday after a company meeting. He also estimated sales in rural areas to grow by 20 percent, year-on-year, in 2009.

Li said 45 more TCL products, mostly televisions, have been included in the subsidy plan. They join 83 products, including electrical and multimedia appliances, which were previously selected.

"Many of our electrical appliances are included in the plan, as the company has already strengthened our product design aimed at the rural market," Li said. "That makes our products quite popular among rural households."

TCL Multimedia Technology, TCL's Hong Kong-listed TV unit, has also recorded a robust growth in its LCD- TV sales on the mainland. January sales leapt 184.6 percent, year-on-year, totaling 407,603 units.

TCL Multimedia Technology Chief Executive Officer Leong Yue-wing said the company aims to sell more than 3 million LCD TVs this year, doubling sales of 1.4 million units last year.

"We also expect the turnover of LCD-TV sales on the mainland to jump 20 percent this year," Leong said yesterday.

Leong said the company plans to spend money on new production plans and developing new products.

As the benchmark Hang Seng Index fell yesterday, shares of TCL Multimedia shed 4.1 percent, or HK$0.05, to close at HK$1.17, while TCL Communication finished down 11.43 percent, or HK$0.08, at HK$0.62.

(HK Edition 02/17/2009 page16)