TCL: Leading the new frontier in TV technology innovation

MANILA, Philippines - With enviable industry dominance as the undisputed consumer electronics brand in China, TCL was keen to expand into the huge and demanding global TV market outside its borders. Amid stiff competition among top players in overseas markets, the company made the big leap: successfully setting the tone of product innovation and excellence through its trademark cutting-edge technologies that brought more powerful and dynamic TV viewing experiences to audiences worldwide.

Today, TCL, Asia’s fast-rising consumer electronics manufacturer, relays an exciting future of possibilities for consumers via a rundown of its latest global expansion ventures.

With the future of television technology innovations moving the entire global industry into an unprecedented renaissance of developments, TCL is now on a major advantage — revolutionizing the digital and home entertainment landscapes this 2014 with major growth plans, international partnership ventures, social media campaigns and product rollouts. And the Philippines, for one, is included in the company’s grand masterplan for its growing international consumer communities.

Following its successful US and CES 2014 campaigns, TCL is taking the lead in the creative development and production of today’s most market-competitive television technology. Delivering its brand promise in bold and innovative ways, the third biggest consumer electronics enterprise is targeting to land dominant brand positioning in key neighboring Asian and Western territories.

“TCL’s global direction right now is to strengthen the markets outside of China by promoting our brand image as one of the leaders in terms of television technology. Globally, we have sold 17,184,000 units in 2013 and we are ranked third in the world. In China, we are still ranked first and hopefully we could gain this title as well here in the Philippines,” says Eric Li, OBG EM general manager for TCL.

“For the record, TCL has won the important Annual Global Innovative Smart TV prize in the recent CES 2014 for its TCL TV+, a collaborative new invention of TCL and Baidu iQIYI.  This product successfully put to fore the cross-corporation of home appliance and the Internet. TV+ contains a large number of free HD videos, realizing a higher focus on online interactive media, Internet TV, over-the-top content, with much less focus on the traditional broadcasting media. It also comes with an all-in-one remote and full voice operation system. It easily gains the popularity in the market especially among the young targets,” Li says.

Add to this award-winning design is the arrival of the latest UHD (Ultra High Definition) TV product line — which includes the highly anticipated 85-inch and 65-inch New Generation TCL 4K UHD TV — and new curved TV in the Philippines last month.

The astonishing features of the TCL 4K UHD TV give viewers the clearest display interface of every single detail and a spectacular viewing experience with a resolution of 3840 x 2160, four times higher than FHD (1920 x 1080).

By utilizing a high-resolution LCD screen with topnotch software processing capabilities, the TCL 4K UHD TV brings a strong 4K image effect and vividly projects the smallest and most sensitive of on-screen details. TV brightness is automatically adjusted and saturation of color is guaranteed to optimize viewer experience.

In addition, the TCL 4K UHD TV comes equipped with a USB and HDMI port, enhancing the transport speed of digital video data.

The TCL 85-inch and 65-inch 4K UHD TVs, meanwhile, are equipped with huge screens that can truly restore the image in a 1:1 ratio, and have a great sound that allows viewers to experience the enjoyment of a private home theater. These models are also equipped with a quad-core processor and 4K top decoder chip.

The curved TV — touted as the TV industry’s newest innovation — has combined the utmost in surreal entertainment by providing superb surround experience (which enables a wide-angle viewing that is not possible on flat screens), more realistic effects (removes distortion of the images on the corners), reduced viewing fatigue (improves visibility for viewers on the sides), and enhanced color and contrast (reduces ambient glare to make the color of the picture appear deeper).  

“TCL has delivered quite a number of high-tech products recently, but we feel that the one thing that will have the most impact in the market is the launch of our new quad-core TVs. The latest product lineup also features high-performance TVs equipped with industry-leading display capabilities such as OLED, curved Ultra HD, LCD, holographic display and sensor technology.  Additionally, TCL showcases devices that enable digital painting and music composition, echoing the company’s slogan ‘The Creative Life,’” says Li.

This new lineup, according to Li, “more or less tells everyone that we are definitely not lagging behind in terms of technology, with TCL being one of the few TV brands in the Philippines that carry 4K, 2K and curved televisions.”

As for the fierce competition among players vying for the top spot, TCL is pushing more aggressive marketing platforms. “In order to stay competitive with other brands, we plan to keep up with the current standard of technology in the industry, as well as be more aggressive with our marketing campaigns,” Li says.        

Bullish on targets

Eason Cai, director of key accounts and marketing of TCL Sun Inc., for his part, says the company is confident that the latest line of quad-core UHD TVs will strongly kick off the brand’s global campaign for local consumers. And with TCL’s award-winning patent technologies like the NaturaLIGHT, Cai is optimistic that the latest home entertainment products will also draw the same, if not, greater reception among Filipino patrons.

“For the latest brand offering, TCL came up with a 4K x 2K screen resolution for next-generation HDTVs. The screen format is 3840 pixels by 2160 pixels, which offers a total resolution of 8.3 megapixels. This is a four-fold improvement in resolution compared with current 1080 HD screens, which offer only a total resolution of 2.1 megapixels. 4K x 2K is also a digital cinema format,” he says.

Standard features across the full range of TCL 4K UHD TVs include: 10-bit LCD panel delivering UHD resolution (3840 x 2160); built-in VGA and wireless connectivity; two USB and three HDMI ports to enhance the transport speed of digital video data; nScreen to connect smart devices such as Android and IOS mobile phones or tablets through an app (allowing users to share media files and use a connected phone as a remote control); active 3D Technology to convert 2D content into a vivid 3D viewing experience; 200HZ Clear Motion Index (CMI) to take motion resolution and sharpness to a new level by combining a very powerful processor and fast response panels with advanced backlight control; EPG TV Program Guide; smart PVR to allow users to pause and record the current program, and playback at any time via USB devices; and ultra slim bezel and premium stand for a clean, ultra-modern finish.

Leading the way with major expansion, product innovations

According to TCL Sun Inc. chief executive officer Mars Ma, with the rapid acceleration of technology making market competition intense for all major category players, TCL is bent on accelerating its massive expansion plans. In the Philippines, for instance, significant marketing endeavors will include the launch of the brand’s most relevant product lines.

“Continuing its commercial objectives in the Philippine market, the TCL TV product lines are designed to provide Filipino customers with the most modern and affordable of next-generation TV products. After the success of TCL’s UHD TV at the 2014 CES, TCL research showed that larger screen sizes and higher resolution technologies are becoming increasingly attractive. With the latest trends in display field and demand for the perfect viewing experience, TCL has placed considerable efforts into the development of its TV line,” Ma says.

In addition, the consumer electronics giant also announced that it is utilizing social media and other online platforms to promote the brand, as well as to bridge consumer-responsive interactions. 

“Tapping online resources is definitely one way of pushing our brand image and create brand awareness. We also see this venture as a venue for consumers’ active participation as they give us their thoughts and personal customer experiences with our products,” Ma says.

On a global scale, TCL has made huge impacts in the international market, most recently of which is its successful participation in CES 2014. But the power of “The Creative Life” does not end there, as it sees itself exploring more major international brand marketing partnerships.

“One of our big projects this year for our global campaign is the movie sponsorship of Marvel’s X-men: Days of Future Past. Just like our Iron Man 3 campaign last year, this movie will help us push our brand image to have a more fun and futuristic feel to it,” Li says.

“In line with its promotional campaign, we will be hosting a movie premiere night for the said Hollywood movie and we will also be setting up an X-men-themed television exhibit in one of the malls in Metro Manila which will run for a couple of weeks,” he adds.

Domestically and globally, TCL has exponentially demonstrated its expertise and advanced technology leadership with its industry-trending achievements. But the enterprise shows no signs of letting up in its quest, as apart from maintaining solo leadership in China, TCL is gyrating its global platforms further in new international shores.

“TCL sees the world as a big market of opportunities where we can lift our brand high above its competitors. Here, we aim to be more known throughout the Philippines as one of the ‘go-to,’ top-of-mind brands when people are thinking of buying a TV. In fact, within five years, we are hoping to be the third most popular TV brand in the country,” Ma says.

As to where the significant growth for the company will occur in the next few years, Ma is quick to reply: “Definitely, I will have to say our marketing strategies will be the ones that will bring the heaviest impact toward the company.”

“TCL, which is currently focusing on user-oriented products, and gradually transforming from a traditional TV manufacturer into a global multimedia entertainment technology enterprise, looks forward to further maximizing its product innovation and efficiency in the coming years. And we are happy to ignite the future with trendsetting possibilities, and we see that coming into fruition now,” he adds.