TCL Technology

TCL Technology (originally an abbreviation for Telephone Communication Limited) is a Chinese multinational electronics company headquartered in Huizhou, Guangdong Province. It designs, develops, manufactures and sells products including television sets, mobile phones, air conditioners, washing machines, refrigerators and small electrical appliances. In 2010 it was the world's 25th-largest consumer electronics producer. Since 2015, it remains the third-largest television manufacturer by market share.[2]

TCL Technology Group Corporation
Native name
TCL科技集团股份有限公司
Public
Traded asSZSE: 000100
IndustryConsumer electronics
Home appliances
Founded1981 (1981) (as TTK)
1985 (1985) (as TCL Technology)
FounderLi Dongsheng (李东生)
Headquarters
Huizhou, Guangdong
,
China
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Li Dongsheng (CEO)
ProductsTelevision sets, smartphones, mobile phones, air conditioning, washing machines, refrigerators
RevenueUS$16.44 billion (2014)[1]
Number of employees
79,293 (2016)
Subsidiaries
Websitewww.tcl.com
TCL Technology Group
Simplified ChineseTCL科技集团
Traditional ChineseTCL科技集團

TCL comprises four listed companies: TCL Technology which is listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, and TCL Electronics Holdings, Ltd. (SEHK: 1070), TCL Communication Technology Holdings, Ltd.(former code SEHK: 2618; delisted in 2016), China Display Optoelectronics Technology Holdings Ltd. (SEHK: 334) and Tonly Electronics Holdings Ltd. (SEHK: 1249) which are listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.[3]

TCL's corporate slogan is "The Creative Life".[4]

On February 7, 2020, TCL Corporation changed its name to TCL Technology.[5]

History

The company was founded in 1981 under the brand name TTK as a cassette manufacturer. In 1985, after being sued by TDK for intellectual property violation, the company changed its brand name to TCL by taking the initials from Telephone Communication Limited. TCL was founded in 1981. After 30 years of development, TCL has rapidly developed to be the leader of China's electronic information industry.[6] TCL Technology is one of China's largest enterprise groups of consumer electronics on global scale, which owns four listed companies: TCL Technology Group Corporation (SZSE:000100), TCL Electronics Holdings Limited (HKEX:1070), TCL Communication Technology Holdings Limited (HKEX:2618), China Display Optoelectronics Technology Holdings Limited (HKEX:334) and Tonly Electronics Holdings Limited (HKEX:1249), with major consumer products including: color TV, mobile phone, air conditioners, refrigerators, washing machines, small appliances and so on.Currently, TCL has formed five industry groups of TCL Electronics, TCL Communication, CSOT, TCL Home Appliance and Tonly Electronics, as well as System Technology Business Division, Techne Group, Emerging Business Group, Investment Group, Highly Information Industry, Financial Business Division and other business segments.[6]

On 19 September 2002, TCL announced the acquisition of all consumer electronics related assets of the former German company Schneider Rundfunkwerke AG, including the right to use its trademarks as Schneider, Dual, Albona, Joyce and Logix.[7]

In July 2003, TCL chairman Li Dongsheng formally announced a "Dragon and Tiger Plan" to establish two competitive TCL businesses in global markets ("Dragons") and three leading businesses inside China ("Tigers").[8]

In November 2003, TCL and Thomson SA of France announced the creation of a joint venture to produce televisions and DVD players worldwide.[9] TCL took a 67 percent stake in the joint venture, with Thomson SA holding the rest of the shares, and it was agreed that televisions made by TCL-Thomson would be marketed under the TCL brand in Asia and the Thomson and RCA brands in Europe and North America.[9]

In April 2004, TCL and Alcatel announced the creation of a mobile phone manufacturing joint venture: Alcatel Mobile Phones.[8] TCL injected 55 million euros in the venture in return for a 55 per cent shareholding.[8]

In April 2005 TCL closed its manufacturing plant in Türkheim, Bavaria. 120 former Schneider employees lost their jobs.

In May 2005, TCL announced that its Hong Kong-listed unit would acquire Alcatel's 45 per cent stake in their mobile-phone joint venture for consideration of HK$63.34 million ($8.1 million) worth of TCL Communication shares.[10]

In June 2007, TCL announced that its mobile phone division planned to cease using the Alcatel brand and switch entirely to the TCL brand within five years.[11]

In April 2008, Samsung Electronics announced that it would be outsourcing the production of some LCD TV modules to TCL.[12]

In July 2008, TCL announced that it planned to raise 1.7 billion yuan ($249 million) via a share placement on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange to fund the construction of two production lines for LCD televisions; one for screens of up to 42 inches, and the other for screens of up to 56 inches.[13] TCL sold a total of 4.18 million LCD TV sets in 2008, more than triple the number during 2007.[14]

In January 2009, TCL announced plans to double its LCD TV production capacity to 10 million units by the end of 2009.[14]

In November 2009, TCL announced that it had formed a joint-venture with the Shenzhen government to construct an 8.5-generation thin film transistor-liquid crystal display production facility in the city at a cost of $3.9 billion.[15]

In March 2010, TCL Multimedia raised HK$525 million through the sale of shares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, in order to fund the development of its LCD and LED businesses and to generate working capital.[16]

In May 2011, TCL launched the China Smart Multimedia Terminal Technology Association in partnership with Hisense Electric Co. and Sichuan Changhong Electric Co., with the aim of helping to establish industry standards for smart televisions.[17]

In January 2013, TCL bought the naming rights for Grauman's Chinese Theatre for $5 million.[18]

Grauman's Chinese Theatre, or TCL Chinese Theatre at Hollywood, California.

In 2014, TCL changed the meaning of its identifying initials from "Telephone Communication Limited" to a branding slogan, "The Creative Life", for commercial purposes.

In February 2014, TCL spent 280 million RMB to purchase 11% shareholdings of Tianjin 712 Communication & Broadcasting Co., Ltd, a Chinese military-owned company which produces communication devices and navigation systems for the Chinese army.

In August 2014, TCL Corporation and Tonly Electronics was implicated in bribing a government official in Guangdong province in exchange for government subsidies.[19]

In October 2014, TCL acquired the Palm brand from HP for use on smartphones.[20][21]

In 2016, TCL reached an agreement with BlackBerry Limited to produce smartphones under the BlackBerry brand,[22] under BlackBerry Mobile. This deal will cease on 31 August 2020.[23]

Operations

TCL is organized into five business divisions:[1]

  • Multimedia: TV sets
  • Communications: cell phones and MIFI devices
  • Home Appliances: AC units and laundry machines
  • Home Electronics / Consumer Electronics: ODM products, like DVD and etc.
  • China Star Optoelectronics Technology (CSOT):[24][25] display panels for TV

In addition it has four affiliated business areas:[1]

  • Real estate and investment
  • Logistics and services
  • Online education
  • Finance

TCL has operations in more than 80 cities across Africa, Asia, Australasia, Europe, North America and South America.[1] It has 18 R&D centers, 20 major manufacturing facilities and over 40 sales offices worldwide.[1]

TCL Corporation also has its own research facility called TCL Corporate Research, which is located at Shenzhen, China with the objective to research cutting-edge technology innovations for other subsidiaries.

Products
The BlackBerry Key2, introduced in 2018, incorporates the QWERTY keyboard associated with the BlackBerry brand.

TCL's primary products are TVs, DVD players, air conditioners, mobile phones, home appliances, electric lighting, and digital media.

It primarily sells its products under the following brand names:

  • TCL (in Africa, Asia, Australasia, Europe, North America, South America, and Russia (TV, air conditioners);
  • Alcatel and Thomson mobile phones (global)[26]
  • BlackBerry (smartphones) global
  • RCA branded electrical products in the United States.

The company, as of April 2012, is in venture with Swedish furniture giant IKEA to provide the consumer electronics behind the Uppleva integrated HDTV and entertainment system product.[27][28]

In 2016, it contract manufactured the DTEK50 and DTEK60, for BlackBerry Limited, under their flagship BlackBerry brand. In December 2016, it became a licensee of the BlackBerry brand, to manufacture, distribute, and design devices for the global market. As of 2017, it distributes BlackBerry devices under the name of BlackBerry Mobile.

FFalcon Smart TV (TCL) 55"

TCL is also the owner of the Palm brand. The company launched the Palm "ultra-mobile companion" smartphone in 2018.

In late 2019, TCL released their first own-branded Android phone, called the TCL Plex.[29][30][31]

Three Android phones were subsequently released in 2020, the TCL 10L, TCL 10 Pro and TCL 10 5G.

Streaming television service: GoLive TV

Since 2015, TCL offers its own video streaming service: GoLive TV or simply GoLive.[32]

References
  1. Corporation, T. C. L. "TCL Corporation Announces 2014 Full Year Results, with Revenue and Profits Hitting All-Time Highs". www.prnewswire.com. Archived from the original on 14 April 2019. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  2. "Global LCD TV manufacturer market share from 2008 to 2017". Statista. Archived from the original on 17 June 2018. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
  3. Investor Relations Archived 10 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine https://eventstimebng.blogspot.com/2020/03/realme-6-12999-13999-7-off-highlights-4.html TCL Official Site
  4. "TCL - About Us". Archived from the original on 30 August 2019. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
  5. "TCL集团证券简称变更为"TCL科技"，000100持续升级科技战略布局 - 媒体新闻 - TCL华星光电技术有限公司". Szcsot.com. 6 February 2020. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  6. "TCL Technology Company Profile". Crunchbase.com. 24 June 2020.
  7. "TCL International announces acquisition of assets from Schneider" (PDF). TCL Press Release. 19 September 2002. Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 May 2016. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  8. Murali, D. (16 April 2011). "A learning dragon with long strides". The Hindu. Chennai, India. Archived from the original on 19 April 2011. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  9. "China Turns Into TV Powerhouse". CBS News. 10 November 2003. Archived from the original on 3 November 2012. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  10. "TCL Unit to Buy 45% Stake of Mobile-Phone Venture From Alcatel". Bloomberg L.P. 16 May 2005. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 25 April 2011.
  11. "TCL to switch to own brand". China Daily. 20 June 2007. Archived from the original on 23 April 2012. Retrieved 25 April 2011.
  12. "Samsung to outsource some work to China's TCL". Reuters. 29 April 2008. Archived from the original on 3 October 2012. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  13. "China TCL share placement to raise $249 million". Reuters. 15 July 2008. Archived from the original on 3 October 2012. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  14. "China's TCL to double LCD TV capacity". Reuters. 22 January 2009. Archived from the original on 18 December 2014. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  15. Yu, Rose (17 November 2009). "China to build $4bn advanced LCD plant". The Australian. Retrieved 25 April 2011.
  16. "TCL Multimedia sees losses at U.S., Europe ops". Reuters. 8 October 2010. Archived from the original on 22 October 2014. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  17. "New industry standards launched for Smart TVs". Global Times. 8 October 2010. Archived from the original on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 24 May 2011.
  18. Verrier, Richard (11 January 2013). "China firm buys naming rights to Grauman's Chinese Theatre". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 12 January 2013. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  19. Zhi, Hui (14 August 2014). "China's TCL Corp implicated in bribery scandal". The FCPA. Archived from the original on 19 November 2018. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
  20. "Palm could be coming back to life — as an Android phone from Alcatel". The Verge. 31 December 2014. Archived from the original on 2 January 2015. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  21. "Palm makes a comeback! TCL to 're-create' the brand". CNET. Archived from the original on 8 January 2015. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  22. "TCL signs an exclusive deal to build BlackBerry-branded phones". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on 15 December 2016. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  23. Kastrenakes, Jacob (3 February 2020). "BlackBerry phones could disappear as TCL partnership ends". The Verge. Archived from the original on 7 March 2020. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  24. "szcsot.com". Archived from the original on 16 March 2016. Retrieved 16 March 2016.
  25. "Shenzhen Huaxing Photoelectric Technology Co. Ltd.: Private Company Information - Bloomberg". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
  26. Company Profile Archived 1 May 2009 at the Wayback Machine TCL Official Site
  27. Anna Ringstrom (17 April 2012). "IKEA moves into consumer electronics with China venture". Thomson Reuters. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 2 July 2017.
  28. LOUISE NORDSTROM (17 April 2012). "IKEA to sell TVs integrated in its furniture". Bloomberg L.P. The Associated Press. Archived from the original on 27 April 2012. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
  29. "TCL Plex - Full phone specifications". www.gsmarena.com. Archived from the original on 29 January 2020. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  30. "TCL Plex smartphone review - mid-tier device that punches well above its weight". 8 November 2019. Archived from the original on 10 November 2019. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  31. Rowl, Chris (7 December 2019). "TCL Plex - Australian Review". Ausdroid. Archived from the original on 29 January 2020. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  32. Roettgers, Janko (9 January 2015). "Sneak peek: This is TCL's GoLive video streaming service". Gigaom. Archived from the original on 4 October 2017. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
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