Who Makes TCL TVs: Everything You Need To Know

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I recently decided to upgrade my studio setup and was listing the items I needed for this upgrade.

The first on my list was to get a new TV set to use as a wall monitor so that I can do the sound mixing process more comfortably while recording the stems.

I wanted a TV not lesser than 55 inches and I started to search for the best options in the market.

But what baffled me was the price range of the well-known brands like Samsung, Sony, and others.

Since I didn’t want to spend so much on TV and wanted to buy the other listed items too for the upgrade, I had to cut short on budget and look for the cheaper options.

So, after browsing the internet for a while and going through and comparing different options, I finally made up my mind and decided to go with TCL.

Though I’ve heard about this brand, I wasn’t much aware of the type of products and quality of products they offer.

The main reason why I gravitated toward TCL is that for the features and quality of the product offered, the price was an absolute bargain. 

Impressed by the features and pricing of the product, one question that came to my mind was, Who makes TCL TVs, and where are they made?

Curious to get answers, I decided to do a deep dive into the information on the internet.

TCL TVs are made by a Chinese tech giant TCL Electronic Holdings Ltd. The company manufactures its own products and components and has production units in several parts of the world including India, Vietnam, Poland, Brazil, and some other countries.

In this article, I have mentioned in detail Who manufactures TCL TVs and if they are worth investing in or not.

Who Manufactures TCL TVs?

There is a very popular misconception going around the market that TCL TVs are made by Samsung.

Many people do think so because, with TCL’s improved design, quality, and improved operating software systems, it is quite logical that people assume the brand to be associated with a top-tier brand. But to our question, Who manufactures TCL TVs?

TCL TVs are manufactured by TCL Electronic Holdings Ltd., a Chinese Technological firm, founded in 1999 and headquartered in Hong kong.

TCL has production units in several parts of the world. Selling over 30 million units each year, TCL has production factories all over the world including Poland, India, Mexico, and Vietnam.

Unlike other budget-friendly options like Vizio, TCL manages and controls its designing, production, and sales processes.

Where are Components for TCL TVs Manufactured?

Having factories in many parts of the world, TCL produces the components for their products in their own production facilities.

The main design and other higher-level decision-making processes are carried out at their Hong Kong Headquarters. 

Screens for TVs and other electronic devices are mainly manufactured in China, by China Star Optoelectronics Technology Co., Ltd, which they bought from Samsung.

This company is now part of TCL and is located in the Shenzhen region of China. They also have a major production plant in Wuhan, China.

TCL has partnerships with other major brands, as part of improving their products by incorporating new technology.

For example, in 2019 TCL released a new TV model that came with a Q-LED screen system which was provided by Samsung.

Manufacturing Facilities for TCL TVs

Being a booming brand and with a decent global presence, TCL has factories and production units all across the world.

From Brazil to India, they run over fifteen major and sub-units combined. Here is some information about some of TCL’s production units.

India

TCL’s production unit in India is situated in the Tirupati region of the state of Karnataka.

Being a vastly populated country, India has a very complex and competitive market environment.

The factory’s production capacity enables the production of 8 million TV screens for models ranging from 22 inches to 55 inches, and 30 million smartphone screens annually. 

The factory will be able to assemble and produce 6 million televisions per year once the assembly lines are fully operational.

These will be designed and produced primarily for the Indian market

Vietnam

Vietnam has recently emerged as a desirable production destination. TCL has two production units in Vietnam, the first of which is in Dong Nai and manufactures around 500,000 TVs annually.

The Second unit is under construction in Binh Duong. Starting construction in 2019, the plant consists of 3 phases of construction, of which the first phase is underway.

Upon launch, the unit will be able to gross production of 3 million TV sets annually.

The production from the Vietnam factories is aimed primarily at Vietnam, the Philippines, Thailand, the USA, and European markets.

Poland

TCL’s Poland factory is located in Zyrardows, a small industrial town. In addition to TCL devices, the factory also manufactures and assembles products of other brands as well.

The production runs under a fifty-fifty production strategy, where half of the factory’s production/assembly are TCL products and the other half is dedicated to other brands. 

The plant’s capacity as of 2020 is 2 million units grossing annually, but an increase in production to 3 million units annually was proposed in 2017.

The components for the assembly are mainly supplied by TCL’s Chinese facilities. The production is mainly aimed at the European markets.

Egypt

In Egypt, TCL’s production runs under a partnership. Elaraby Group, the largest home appliance enterprise in Egypt, and TCL signed a partnership agreement back in 2016.

TCL has upgraded the Elaraby production units, which currently produce almost 1 million TVs annually in Egypt. The production is mainly aimed at the African and Middle Eastern markets.

Russia

In Russia, TCL doesn’t have a production unit or assembly plants. But through the outsourcing scheme, a few models are assembled at the Telebalt enterprise for the local markets.

Brazil

In Brazil TCL’s production is run under a partnership deal between TCL and SEMP groups.

The production is branded and marketed as SEMP TCL in Brazil and other South American regions.

SEMP was previously associated with Toshiba, in the production of their TVs. But now the production units are taken over by TCL.

The production is aimed at the South American markets.

How Reliable Are TCL TVs?

Despite the saturation of the budget TV market, TCL remains one of the most popular brands.

The organization has achieved a solid combination of image quality and affordability, attracting more clients from all around the world.

TCL TVs usually last around five to seven years on an average usage level (8-10 hours daily).

Being reliable for regular use, these TVs ain’t the best option if you are looking for intensive gaming sessions or to get outstanding picture quality.

With more than four-decade of service, TCL has put a lot of its efforts and resources into putting out the best technology at a reasonable cost. So TCL in comparison to other budget options is definitely ahead.

One thing that you have to keep in mind while asking this question is that this is a budget-friendly product and shouldn’t be expected to perform better than products costing double their price. To describe TCL TVs, in short, would be: Worth it.

How Do TCL TVs Compare Against Popular Smart TV Brands

TCL is one of the major competitors in the budget-friendly market. And it’s a clear fact that there is high competition in this sector of the market.

What makes the budget-friendly sector a challenge is an objective to put out products at low cost whilst maintaining the best quality and features.

As any market would demand, to survive and beat the competition, a company must be able to meet user expectations, cost-wise and quality-wise.

Yeah, let’s be honest here, everyone wants their products to be of great quality and features but at a lower cost. And whichever provider gets closest to this objective, wins the market.

So in comparison with other TV brands, TCL does have pros and cons. Here’s a list of them:

Pros:

• Cheaper/ Reasonably priced

TCL offers some of the best budget-friendly TV options in the market. And their products are great value for money.

• Good smart OS system

Unlike many other brands, TCL uses Google TV and Roku as their smart platforms.

These are very user-friendly and enable access to a plethora of apps that the user can download.

• More update features

TCL is looking forward to upgrading its products by adding more advanced features.

In 2021 TCL announced its future lineup, which would bring in more gaming features.

The higher models are expected to include additions like VRR support and HDMI 2.1 bandwidth, etc.

Cons:

• Low brightness level

Apart from the higher-end models, TCL TVs have low peak brightness levels and this makes the device not suitable for brighter environments. This is due to the weak backlights used in the device.

• Not much refined

Budget range TCL devices aren’t that great when it comes to their built quality.  Not the worst, but not the best either.

These devices after a period may have issues of upscaling, black lines on the screen, and even local dimming in some cases.

• Not suitable for a wide seating area

Most TCL models have VA panels with narrow viewing angles and this makes the TV not suitable for wider seating setups.

 Hisense and Vizio are the two direct competitors of TCL in the Budget TV market, though Vizio put out more higher-end models.

Hisense and TCL basically offer the same features but Hisense has a brighter display than TCL’s.

Hisense is reported to have motion problems whilst they both have issues regarding picture quality. 

On the other hand, Vizio when compared to TCL has a much better dark room performance and improved gaming features.

But what puts TCL ahead is its smart interface. TCL uses Roku as their smart interface platform, which is more user-friendly when compared to Vizio’s Smartcast.

Conclusion

If you are looking for a big-screen TV at a mid-range budget-friendly price, TCL can be your go-to option.

With its increased popularity, the company is working forward in closing the gap between flagship and budget-friendly options.

With a decent level of features and quality along with the best in industry pricing, TCL is definitely worth the money.

TCL TVs come with two operating systems: Roku and Google’s Android TV, both of which are simple to set up and operate.

If you’ve ever used one of these operating systems on TV before, you won’t have any trouble with it.

Even though the older TCL models do not support an operating system, they remain dependable when it comes to customization.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is TCL owned by the Chinese government?

TCL is a state-owned corporation by the Chinese government. Under the control of the Qingdao state government, TCL has received huge funding from the government as an investment.

The investment is used for projects in the research, development of future technologies, and sustaining the company’s production process and facilities so that the low price attracts consumers.

Does TCL steal data?

In 2020 it was found out that TCL integrated backdoors into its TVs, thus putting the users at the risk of data theft and cyber breaches.

TCL also receives state backing from the CCP to compete in the global electronics market, which has driven it to become the world’s third-largest television maker.”

Do TCL smart TVs spy on you?

In 2020 according to independent security researchers, it was studied that TCL TVs running under Android platforms may have security system vulnerabilities, that enable anybody to sneak in and access the device’s whole filesystem and wipe it if they so desired.

Is TCL better than Samsung?

Though when compared on an economical level, TCL is a great value for the money.

But still, the product can only be considered second to Samsung in many ways.

What majorly puts TCL behind Samsung is its low refresh rate, poor color accuracy, and local dimming.

This huge gap between the two brands is in decrease as newer models are introduced.