TCL Opens R&D Center in Tianfu Software Park

CHENGDU, China, May 10, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- On May 10, 2011, China's largest professional software park - Tianfu Software Park (TSP) - announced that the world's seventh largest mobile phone manufacturer TCL Communication Technology Holdings Limited (TCL Communication) officially settles its first R&D center in central and western China in Tianfu Software Park. This is another big R&D project settled in following by Marvel and EMC set up their R&D centers in TSP successively in 2011.

TCL Communications CEO Dr. Guo Aiping said at the celebration ceremony: "The establishment of TCL Communication Chengdu R&D Center is an important step to further enhance the product and technology R&D capability of TCL Communication and perfect its R&D strategic layout in West China. The Chengdu R & D center will focus on the development of Android-based mobile intelligent terminals. This will greatly enhance the company's core competence in the area of medium and high-end products. "

TCL Communication senior vice president Dr. Wang Jiyang, who was graduated from UESTC, said that there are four major reasons for TCL Communication to settle its West China R & D center in Chengdu. First, Chengdu has abundant talent reserves. In Chengdu, there are a large number of communications and computer universities and colleges, including UESTC, Sichuan University, Southwest Jiaotong University, and Chengdu University of Information Engineering. Secondly, the local government provides strong support. The Chengdu government's support to the IT industry and its high efficiency and pragmatism also enable TCL to have good development opportunities here. Thirdly, Chengdu has remarkable advantages in operating costs compared with eastern and southern coastal areas. Finally, in other R&D centers of TCL Communication, employees born in Sichuan province and Southwest China are eager to return home. Abundant high-quality human resources, strong government support and significant cost advantages will enable TCL Chengdu R&D center to quickly start up.

It is expected that the center's staff will reach 1,000 within 5 years. Meanwhile, TCL Communication officially signed a cooperation agreement with Chengdu-based University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (UESTC). And both sides will establish "TCL Communication – UESTC joint R&D base".

About Tianfu Software Park

Since Tianfu Software Park was launched in 2005, it has successfully attracted a large number of world-class enterprises segmented in six sectors – ITO/software development, digital entertainment, information security, telecom, R&D, IC design and BPO/shared service centres. As per May 2011, near 200 companies, including IBM, Accenture, SAP, EMC, Maersk, DHL, Manulife Financial, Huawei, Alibaba, Tencent, operate in the park, employing over 30,000 people. Tianfu Software Park has become the fastest development software park in China.

About TCL Communication Technology Holdings Limited

It was reported that TCL Communication has developed rapidly in recent years. Its sales volume of mobile phones and accessories in 2010 totaled 36.22 million units, increasing 1.25 times over the same period last year. It grows fastest among the world's top ten mobile phone manufacturers. The company's Q1 2011 financial report released on April 29 shows that its sales volume continued to grow and its net profit grew by 159% in the first quarter of 2011 (Q1 2011). In 2011, TCL Communication will fully march into the medium and high-end market and plans to launch more than a dozen Andriod-based smart phones and tablet computers. The establishment of the Chengdu R & D center will greatly enhance the penetration capability of TCL Communication into the medium and high-end market.

SOURCE Chengdu Tianfu Software Park