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Contents6
  1. Consumer-impact summary
  2. Incidents
  3. Misleading marketing of QLED TVs (2026)
  4. Broken promises of software updates
  5. Non-compliance with software licenses
  6. References

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TCL
Basic information
Founded 1981
Legal Structure Public
Industry Electronics,Phones,TVs,Home appliances,Finance
Also known as TCL,TCL Technology Group Corp,TCL Corporation,TCL Technology
Official website https://www.tcl.com/

TCL Technology Group Corp is a Chinese partially state-owned electronics company headquartered in Huizhou, Guangdong province. TCL develops, manufactures, and sells consumer electronics like television sets, mobile phones, air conditioners, washing machines, refrigerators, and small electrical appliances.

Consumer-impact summary

  • User freedom: Many TCL phones have perma-locked bootloaders.[1]
  • User privacy: According to their privacy policy, they will share some telemetry with 3rd-parties.[2]
  • User experience: Some of their electronic products, especially Android phones, have many bugs.[3] Some bugs are very disruptive, such as screens "randomly" turning off when brightness is low.[4]
  • Market control: In 2010, it was the world's 25th-largest consumer electronics producer.[5] It was the second-largest television manufacturer by market share in 2022 and 2023.[6]

Incidents

This is a list of all consumer-protection incidents this company is involved in. Any incidents not mentioned here can be found in the TCL category.

Misleading marketing of QLED TVs (2026)

The second-largest TV maker has to stop calling its QLED TV sets that, as Samsung cries foul. The misleading advertising claims that TCL TVs use quantum dot technology, but the courts disagree.[7]

Broken promises of software updates

For several years, TCL has failed to fulfill their promise of upgrading many Android phones. So much so that they're blatantly lying about the ETA.[3]

Non-compliance with software licenses

TCL refuses to make most of its firmware publicly available. This breaks a Google contract, and may violate GPL.[8]

References

  1. ↑ https://github.com/zenfyrdev/bootloader-unlock-wall-of-shame/blob/aa5ba6136153440d6f45509dfa67d79682800b2c/brands/tcl/README.md
  2. ↑ https://www.tcl.com/global/en/commercial-display/privacy-notice#disclosure-of-your-information-to-third-parties
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 https://reddit.com/r/nxtpaper/comments/1nckzv5/tcl_update_policy
  4. ↑ https://reddit.com/r/nxtpaper/comments/1nckzv5/comment/obv34b6
  5. ↑ Richards, David (2019-11-24). "TCL Set To Be A Major Global CE & Smartphone Brand, Roadmap Revealed". Retrieved 2024-08-11.
  6. ↑ Pr, Ani (2024-03-13). "TCL Ranked as Global Top 2 TV Brand and No. 1 in 98 TV Category for Two Consecutive Years". ThePrint. Retrieved 2024-08-11.
  7. ↑ https://www.notebookcheck.net/TCL-can-t-advertise-TVs-as-QLED-since-they-lack-in-quantum-dots-and-color-accuracy.1243552.0.html
  8. ↑ https://reddit.com/r/Android/comments/vvnuq6/tcl_has_been_actively_ignoring_my_firmware
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