TCL launches first dual-core smartphone

TCL Corp has announced its first dual-core smartphone to compete with domestic and overseas companies such as Lenovo Group Ltd and Apple Inc.

TCL signed a partnership with Suning Appliance, one of China's largest home appliance retailers, to sell the new device at 1,999 yuan ($317), only about half the price of Apple's new handset.

TCL's S900 uses Google Inc's Android 4.0 operating system, 1.5G A9 process and has a 4.5-inch screen. Before this new device, TCL had some sin-gle-core smartphones, and tablet PCs.

According to domestic IT research firm Ana-lysys International, 70 million smartphones were sold in China last year.

TCL, ZTE and Huawei had entered the top 10 cellphone market globally last year; however, TCL focused on low-end, sec-ond-generation devices in 2011, according to the research company.

This year, TCL's emphasis will be on high-end smartphones and 3D TVs, the com-pany said.