Shanghai Daily reports:

THE country’s biggest listed electronics maker is to sell its loss-making computer business to an overseas investor.

The Shenzhen-listed TCL Corp said yesterday it would dispose of its PC operations with the sale of an 82-percent stake in the unit.

TCL has been in trouble for a while:

TCL’s computer unit lost 67.8 million yuan (US$8.9 million) last year on sales of 2.14 billion yuan, the Huizhou-based company told the Shenzhen Stock Exchange earlier.

…TCL made a profit in the first half of the year, helped by cost cutting. Its net profit was 45.1 million yuan compared with a net loss of 746.4 million yuan a year earlier.

That first half profit was capped off with the resignation of TCL’s general manager. The new GM tried to reassure employees and channel partners that TCL was going to stay in the PC business, but it seems that reality caught up with him.

There have been rumors of Acer acquiring TCL, but the purchaser has only been identified as a “Hong Kong based company”.

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