TCL
TCL is one of the largest television makers in the world, and makes phones under both its own name and Alcatel.
About TCL
TCL is best known for televisions, where it is among the largest manufacturers in the world and has built its position the same way it did in phones: on price, at volume, with panel manufacturing of its own behind it. The display business is the centre of the company. Phones sit alongside it under two names. TCL sells handsets under its own brand, and it makes Alcatel-branded phones, which have been its since a joint venture formed with Alcatel in April 2004 - TCL took a 55 per cent holding for EUR 55 million. Alcatel has always sat at the value end and still does. The company was founded in 1981 in Huizhou, Guangdong, as TTK, making audio cassettes. It was renamed after a trademark dispute with TDK, and the letters stand for Telephone Communication Limited. It is worth noting that Alcatel the French telecommunications equipment company is a separate business with a separate history.