TCL: The Future of Hardware? Fast Fashion for TV Sets?

Hmm very interesting article on how a company I have never heard of called TCL is at the top or near the top of all of the listings of TVs for sale on Amazon.

“TCL is almost completely vertically integrated,” Larson says. “We’re among the top five panel producers in the world. We make our own plastic. We mold our own cabinets. We make our boards. We even have a factory that makes speaker drivers. The only thing we have to buy, really, is the main processor and the memory that goes along with that.”

According to Larson, owning its supply chain allows TCL to release new sets far faster—and cheaper—than is possible at competing companies that typically have to wait for suppliers to send them samples before they can finish designing their upcoming TVs. 

It is almost fast fashion for TVs. They can pump out a TV that is cheaper and quicker than the big companies they compete with. That means they are nimble and can make changes on the fly if they need to. So if Americans want 4K TVs with a special back-light they can pump one out quite easily and undercut their competitors. I have never owned a TCL product but I might look into it if I need a smaller TV for something.