Depending on who you ask, Samsung’s incredible component manufacturing skills are one of the main reasons why the company so quickly became the world’s number one smartphone maker. Chinese players, looking to mimic the South Korean company’s success, want to become responsible for a larger portion of their supply chain.
Huawei started making chips last year for their flagship Ascend line. Earlier this month, Lenovo said they’re going to increase the number of chip designers they have on hand. And now, according to DigiTimes, TCL’s CEO, Dongsheng Li, has stated that he plans on investing in “the development of smartphone and connected TV chips“.
TCL, better known as Alcatel, may not be a household name in the West, but that may not matter since China officially became the world’s largest smartphone market in Q3 2012.
