CHINESE TCL BEGINS SMARTPHONE MANUFACTURING

Joining forces with Koc Holding’s subsidiary Arcelik, the Chinese technology company TCL has started mobile phone production in Turkey. “Production is currently being carried out using the Semi-Knocked-Down system but more parts will be brought to the country and assembled with the complete knock-down system in the upcoming period,” said Minister of Industry and Technology Mustafa Varank during his visit to the plant. The facility has an annual production capacity of 450,000 mobile phones per year, which will increase to one million units by 2022. “We have launched the collaboration with TCL primarily for the domestic market, then for exports,” said Fatih Kemal Ebiclioglu, President of Consumer Durable Group of Koc Holding. According to Frank Zhang, President of EU Sales region of TCL, the Turkish government granted a lot of support to help with partnering with a local company, and this has provided more confidence in investing in the country. TCL and Arcelik will produce four models in Turkey by the end of this year.