TCL counts on Brazilians' mobile phone addiction for high growth

No other major economy in the world is doing as poorly as Brazil. Yet TCL Communication Technology Holdings Ltd is investing in new hires and wider distribution of its Alcatel brand phones in a plan to gain market share from competitors.

The Brazilian unit of the Chinese phonemaker is now selling directly to 50 retail clients and 10,000 stores, compared with 15 clients and 3,500 stores a year earlier, according to Fernando Pezzotti, president of TCL's Alcatel brand in Brazil. It has hired additional sales staff to work with big retail chains in the country, including Magazine Luiza SA and Via Varejo SA's Pontofrio, in an effort to increase in-store sales of phones.

"The Brazilians like being connected with a state-of-the-art device," Pezzotti said in a phone interview from Sao Paulo. "We are seeing this moment more as an opportunity than as a crisis. For us, it is time to gain space."