Chinese household appliance maker TCL saw its overseas revenue drop to 16.67 billion yuan (US$2.44 billion) in the second half of 2008, down 8.21 percent year-on-year.

Total turnover, including both domestic and overseas sales, dropped 4.67 percent in the same period.

In 2008, overseas revenue accounted for 44.62 percent of the Guangdong-based company's total business.

The firm said it still faces big challenges in overseas markets in 2009.

TCL posted a net profit of 501 million yuan, an increase of 26.6 percent year-on-year in 2008. It sold 4.18 million LCD TV sets in the domestic market, a 233.1 percent surge compared with 2007.

(China Daily March 26, 2009)