TCL may eventually challenge Samsung for the smartphone crown (Interview)

ALEXANDRA
We entered the market with Alcatel, we have our R&D center, all the patents we have, and we’re investing and developing a lot in the mobile industry. We started launching our mobile products under the TCL brand, I would say 7 years ago, so now we're launching a new brand in a very competitive segment, so it's taking time. In terms of strategy, we go step by step.

So, we first entered the low-end segment, and now we have to take strong positions year after in this segment below 200 euro. In France, we reached 30% market share in this space below 200 euro.

So, we have now invested in a new R&D with NXTpaper, that gives us a unique positioning to have a dedicated place in this segment and to allow us to follow the path of TV and all the success we have seen on the TV market year after year.

To be strong in mobile and to be visible, you need a strong brand. Because the phone is a day-to-day product, it's a lifestyle product that you have with you all the time. So, now we have invested in the brand for many years around sports, partnership, and this year we invested with Olympic Games, an eight-year partnership.

So, the objective and the vision is to continue to go step by step. With P8 Ultra, we are not yet entering the premium segment, but the premium part of the mid-range, and the objective is to continue to gain positions. Basically, we really want to follow up our success with TVs and go segment by segment. We also go country by country.

We are vertically integrated. We have a CSOT factory that allows us to have all this innovation in display. As you know, we have the brand awareness.
So, now we are able to launch a solid smartphone with a solid performance and NXTpaper AMOLED technology. So that gives us a unique positioning on the market in a segment around digital well-being. This is where we want to take a unique place, because we have been communicating a lot about eye care and low blue light.

And what we see is this big trend of consumers who want to take care of themselves. When you turn 30, 50, it's the age you say, okay, now I need to go to sport, I need to eat well, I need to manage my mental health, etc. We want to say: okay, stop. The most important thing is not to be connected all the time, but to have the device that allows you to decide when you want to be connected.

I want to be fully connected, have a large battery, a great camera, etc. But then, maybe it's time for me to disconnect. So, I have a device that I can switch off, block notifications, and have a relaxing time with the black and white screen.

RAD
Okay, so do you think there might be a little bit of a brand perception issue? Because so far, at least in terms of phones, you've mostly competed in the budget affordable segment. Now the new P80 Ultra, it's a little bit upper mid-range, as you say.

Would that be an easy transition?

ALEXANDRA
Our chance and strength is our ecosystem. Because now, as TCL, we are known for a strong connected ecosystem on multiple product categories, with the TV as our hero product. So we managed to do it on the TV side.

We have done exactly the same: growing step by step. And now we are selling super premium TVs up to 4,000 euro, right?

YACINE
And I remind that, as we say, we go step by step. We launched TCL 50 Pro first. Then last year, same time, we launched the 60 Ultra, which was around 500 euro.

And this year, we launched the P80 Ultra, the biggest configuration of which is reaching 599 euro. So we go step by step. And as Alexandra said, we follow the same path.

That's what we have done in TV. If you follow the TV position of TCL, if you go back five years ago, we were selling more the B-series entry-level or mid-range. And today we are leading the C-series segment around 1,000 - 1,500 euros where our, let's say, mass market flagships are sold.

A few years ago, we were not able to. Our bestseller was not this kind of product. So we are following the same path.

RAD
If you are following the same path, would it be true to say that you are going to, in a few years maybe, start competing in the premium flagship segment? Would that be your intention?

YACINE
This is where we would like to be for sure, because this is where we can deliver the best smartphone experience, the great value, demonstrate our expertise in display and bring some innovation. But we will not do it just with, let's say, standard products. We want to bring something new.

As we did on TV with mini-LED. If we go in this segment with smartphones, we want to bring something special. And this is what we do with NXTpaper.

Nobody can deliver it. And I can be proud that it's the best display. Even your very expensive smartphones don't have this display.

ALEXANDRA
And the ambition is to have this strong ecosystem. Because if you look at the market, you have two companies with a large connected ecosystem, Samsung and TCL. So we want to be the alternative for Samsung, offering the same large, high-quality, innovative ecosystem.

And the key to have a strong ecosystem is to have a strong mobile at the center to enter and connect with all the rest of the products.

RAD
Okay, so would you say that for you, NXTpaper is the brand. That this is the one feature that you would like to establish when people say “TCL phone”, they think “NXTpaper display”?

ALEXANDRA
So NXTpaper is our key differentiator. It's what makes us unique on the market. But our ambition is to really install ourselves as a strong actor in smartphone business overall, covering different types of positioning and needs in the future. But our key to enter and to be more present and visible is NXTpaper.

YACINE
Because when you look what we have announced, we have also the P80, which is not NXTpaper. And let's say the main advantage of the P80 is the display, because we are offering flagship AMOLED standard at an accessible price point. So it's not only NXTpaper.

RAD
What are you trying to sell here with the P80 Ultra? Is it a better smartphone, or a healthier relationship between the user and the smartphone?

YACINE
The TCL P80 Ultra is a product that helps you better balance your digital habits. And we have some features on the device to help you put some timers telling you, yeah, you need to take a break. And at the same time, it saves your eyes with low blue light, with the anti-glare, etc.

ALEXANDRA
Actually, our campaign is about this: that you don't have to choose anymore. It's about the duality in life. All of us, we run, we connect, we work, we need to be there.

And then we need to disconnect. So you don't have to choose anymore between performance and comfort. You can have both with our products.

And we give back the control to the consumer. That is a very bold position. You decide when you are connected or disconnected.

RAD
Yeah, I saw that the software interface itself changes when you switch to the E-Ink mode. For example, I saw that to the left part of the home screen, it's no longer Google Discover, it is your bookshelf.

ALEXANDRA
Yes, exactly. You can choose.

RAD
It's way more minimal. Do you still get the notifications?

ALEXANDRA
The notification I want to have.

YACINE
And so this is the bookshelf. This is mine. And as I said, we also want to bring some advanced AI features that are benefits for the user reading on the NXTpaper display.

So when you read books, you can turn any books to audiobooks. You can ask AI questions about the book.

If you stop reading your book and you start again a few months later, you will forget everything. So you can ask AI some questions about this.

RAD
So in your mind, do you have like a short answer to what TCL does not want to pursue?

ALEXANDRA
What we want to achieve is a sustainable long-term growth and place in the industry. What we don't want to... We don't want to play the game of short-term presence, massive investment to be there six months and then disappear.

So this is also what makes us unique, that we are a solid partner with a long-term vision. When we signed Olympic Games for an eight-year partnership – this is solid.

We are here to stay and we are seriously better positioned.

YACINE
And also we are focusing on what we are mastering the most, the display panel, the manufacturing. For the moment, maybe we are going to surprise, but we do not go into electric cars, for instance.

We can do it. But it's not because we can do something that we are going to bring it to the market. We can do many things at TCL that we do not bring to market because we don't think it's complementary to the development of the ecosystem in a very sustainable way.

From energy to smartphones, to your TV, your AC, we have everything. And we are mastering everything and we are manufacturing everything. So this is our vision.

RAD
What would be the biggest misconception about the TCL brand in Europe? Is there something that you feel like consumers, when they hear TCL, they imagine certain things and you're like, no, that's not what we're about.

ALEXANDRA
Honestly, I don't see any misconception right now. Because of all the work we have done over the last years. And, you know, the sports partnerships we have put in place really give us this good brand image.

We are seen by the consumer as an innovative, reliable and best-value-for-money in the industry. And this is thanks to the Olympics. Also, the Spanish national team that won the World Cup, we are the main sponsor.

We also sponsor Argentina, the German team, Italy, Arsenal, the FIBA World Cup right now, we are the main sponsor as well. But we also put the product in the hands of the consumer and work closely with experts like you, with key media, where we really value your review, the product awards we get, and all of this makes us build this strong, valuable and reliable brand. So right now, we are not a new brand anymore.

We still need to develop, but we are not a newcomer that needs to demonstrate that this is a good product. We have done the job. Now we need to continue to convince and to have more and more consumers with us.

But for mobile, we have millions of users across the globe. So we are not a newcomer that needs to tackle a bad perception.

YACINE
Not anymore. Yeah, it's not a misconception, but maybe it's not knowing that we’ve been in the mobile industry for almost 30 years. And we are one of the very few who were there at the beginning of the mobile phone and are still there today.

If you look at all the brands today on the market, there are very few who are still there. And we are one of those. Maybe with another name, but the company remains the same.

RAD
What was the name before?

YACINE
Alcatel.

ALEXANDRA
Alcatel.

RAD
My final question is, if we happen to talk again in three years from now, what would you like to see TCL Mobile to have achieved in the Europe market?

YACINE
To be solidly installed in this price range. And to be able to offer the best smartphone and display experience to our users and continue developing great features, unique features to differentiate.

On mobile, this is what we want to do. We want to put more and more of our smartphones in the center of our ecosystem to interact with the product.

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