TCL begins mass production of its phones in Turkey, targets 1 mn units by 2022

The Chinese electronics giant, TCL, has opened a factory in Turkey, which has already begun mass production of its smart devices. The factory which is a joint project between TCL and Arçelik, plans to reach a production capacity of 1 million units by 2022.

The factory is borne from the outcome of the Turkish government’s high tariff on the importation of completely assembled mobile phones. The tariff has resulted in phones costing a lot more, which has led to slower sales for phone manufacturers. In order to increase sales, TCL partnered with Arçelik, a Turkish multinational appliances manufacturer that owns Beko and Grundig, to start a factory that assembles its products.

It is reported that the factory currently has an annual production capacity of 450,000 units. However, that number is expected to more than double by next year. At the moment, the factory only churns out units based on Semi Knocked Down (SKD) kits but plans to import Completely Knocked Down (CKD) kits from China once the production line reaches maturity.

TCL began selling its own branded smartphones starting with the TCL 10 series last year. It has added new models this year with the TCL 20 series which is available in Europe and North America. These two markets are important for its success, so it makes sense as to why it has opened a factory in Europe. GizmoChina