China’s TCL Electronics Holdings, the world’s second-largest manufacturer of televisions by market share, said it expected restrictive coronavirus containment measures to boost sales in the United States in the second half of this year. The company was on its way to achieving sales of 23 million units in 2020, an increase of 11.4 per cent over last year, Wang Cheng, the Guangdong province-based company’s chief executive, said in Shanghai on Wednesday. “Over the next 12 months, quite a big number of American companies will still let their employees work from home,” Wang said after a results press conference. “The continued efforts to contain Covid-19 have ushered in a strong demand for TV sets since they are an important working tool and a source of entertainment. The upwards momentum [in the US] will last for a while.” TV giant TCL wants to launch smartphones before July despite pandemic TCL bucked a downward trend in the global TV market in the first half of this year, despite a disruption in manufacturing and commercial activity across the globe. It delivered 10.07 million units between January and June, nearly unchanged from the same period in 2019, even as the industry posted an 8 per cent drop globally. To reach its full-year sales target of 23 million units, TCL needs to sell about 12 million units in the second half, 15.5 per cent more than a year ago. On Wednesday, it reported an underlying profit of HK$417 million (US$53.8 million) for the second quarter ending June 30, an increase of 48.9 per cent year on year. Its revenue rose 36.6 per cent to HK$10.3 billion. The North American market is now the biggest driver of growth for TCL, which has manufacturing facilities in Mexico. Full-year sales in the US, Canada and Mexico will reach 8 million units this year, accounting for more than a third of its total sales, Hu Lihua, the company’s chief financial officer, said in an interview. The company did not reveal the exact volume of its North America sales, but said that a 68.5 per cent sales jump was recorded in the second quarter. In June, TCL began selling two smart TV models based on Google’s Android platform in the US. The 32-inch and 40-inch 1080p TVs ship from Best Buy starting at US$129. The TVs support voice control and come with Google Assistant embedded in them. Google’s Chromecast, which allows viewers to cast videos and initiate screen sharing from compatible smartphones, browsers and apps, is also included. TCL confident of 2020 growth as US sales grow amid social distancing The company is among the few bright spots in China’s corporate landscape, having recorded growth in US business even as tensions between Beijing and Washington escalated and the coronavirus dented foreign-trade deals. TCL had a global market share of 12.7 per cent in the second quarter, according to research firm Omdia.