According to ABI Research analyst Michael Morgan, China's TCL is the handset and smartphone vendor to watch. ABI found TCL shipped a total of 10.5 million handsets in the third quarter, making the company the world's seventh-largest handset vendor, just behind China's Huawei. "TCL was able to show a 11.8 percent year-over-year growth in a quarter where most OEMs were citing competitive and macro-economic excuses for their limited growth. Furthermore, TCL delivered 2 million smartphone shipments in Q3 which represents a 1,200+ percent growth year-over-year," Morgan noted. "ABI Research believes that TCL is yet another Chinese dragon with the teeth to win at home and abroad, and will soon pass Huawei in terms of handset shipments." TCL, which acquired the Alcatel mobile phone business in 2005, is one of three Chinese vendors in ABI's listing of the top 11 handset makers in the world: Huawei is the world's sixth largest handset vendor and ZTE is No. 4. Click here. ABI's rankings of the world's 11 biggest handset makers in the third quarter of 2012. Morgan checks out the world's 11 largest branded cell phone makers in the quarter, providing sales data as well as insight into their strategy and competitive position in the market. Special Report
