TCL Partners With Tencent, Future TV on Ecosystem, Debuts Curved Quantum Dot TV

TCL said it's developing a content ecosystem in partnership with Tencent and Future TV with the goal of becoming a “global smart products manufacturing and Internet application services organization.” The collaboration combines TCL’s hardware design capabilities, Tencent’s "vast range" of exclusive premium video content, and Future TV’s Internet TV prowess, it said Wednesday. At a news conference in China, TCL showed products developed under the Double + strategy announced last year, including the flagship curved quantum dot H8800 TV, said to have a color gamut of 110 percent and a Harman Kardon sound system. The new Idol3 smartphone has JBL supplied sound, and a new smart watch boasts 24-hour health monitoring and information alert capabilities, remote camera controls, 2 1/2-daylong battery life and iOS and Android compatibility. TCL, which had a 44 percent bump in March year-over-year in smartphones and other smart devices, said in an earnings release Tuesday that it plans to use the smartphone as an entry point to the smart home. The company's sales volume of smartphones and other smart devices grew by 44 percent year-over-year to 3.3 million units, accounting for more than half of the group’s shipments for the month, it said. TCL will preload its Smart Butler app on phones, enabling users to monitor and control products on the TCL platform using a 3D home network layout showing TCL TVs, refrigerators, air conditioners, air purifiers, routers, lamps and other smart appliances, it said.