Advertisements by Japanese company Regza appeared on the sponsors boards at a World Cup game again on Thursday.
Japan was taking on already eliminated Poland in Volgograd, as the Asian giants fought for a last-16 berth in the World Cup.
The ad for Regza, a TV brand owned and manufactured by Japan’s electronics company Toshiba, replaced an ad for Chinese consumer electronics giant Hisense.
After Sony ended its cooperation with world football governing body FIFA, there remains no Japanese companies sponsoring the World Cup.
The Regza appearance, which first appeared during Japan’s game against Senegal on Sunday, is believed to be a strategic move staged by Hisense.
The Qingdao-based company reached a deal to acquire 95 percent of Toshiba Visual Solutions for $113.6 million last year.
According to Hisense, its TV sales in Japan increased 44 percent during the January-April period on a year-on-year basis, ranking fifth in the Japanese market.
Domestically, some were questioning Hisense’s market share in China after the company presented a Chinese “No.1 in China” advertisement during World Cup games.
But the latest survey conducted by the China Marketing Monitor company shows Hisense TV is the de facto leader in market share. Information provider IHS Markit also ranks Hisense as China’s top TV seller.