Established in 1981, TCL was one of first 13 joint venture enterprises in China. Previously known as TTK Home Appliances (Huizhou) Co., Ltd., the company was originally engaged in manufacturing audio tapes. Subsequently, business operations were expanded to phones, television sets, mobile phones, refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners, small household appliances, LCD panels, and etc. In 2019, TCL split into TCL Ｔechnology and TCL Industrial Holdings Co., Ltd. In the future, TCL Corporation seeks to transform itself into a technology industry group, focusing on the semiconductor display industry and expanding into related upstream and downstream industries. TCL Industrial will focus on intelligent terminal products and services, with the aim of becoming a global leader in intelligent technology. TCL places great emphasis on R&D investment in technological innovation, and is a leader in core technology patent capabilities among Chinese enterprises. From January to September 2019 alone, the Group invested a total of 3.89 billion yuan in R&D, and filed 1,527 international patent applications. As of the third quarter of 2019, TCL filed a total of 11,641 PCT international patent applications, covering Europe, the United States, South Korea, and other countries and regions. TCL has 41,296 Chinese patent applications, 11,704 foreign patent applications, and ranks second in the world for quantum dot patents. As a pioneer of the globalization drive among Chinese enterprises, TCL took the lead in focusing on the Vietnamese market as early as 1999. Today, TCL has already undergone the four stages of early exploration, cross-border mergers and acquisitions, steady growth, and globalization. As of 2018, TCL has 28 R&D centers, 10 joint laboratory, 22 manufacturing bases, set up sales offices in more than 80 countries and regions and operations in more than 160 countries and regions.
