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TOKYO One of the most common western misconceptions about China (and its CE market) is that the role of local vendors is to build cut-rate TV sets with fewer bells and whistles, then pass along lower prices that Chinese consumers can afford.That understanding is turning out to be wrong on many levels.First, according to an announcement from Hillcrest Labs (Rockville, Md.) Wednesday (May 23), leading Chinese consumer brand TCL will start shipping Android-based smart TVs this month in China. The TVs will feature Hillcrests patented motion software, Freespace. The surprise here is that China gets first dibs on TCLs gesture-controlled smart TVs. They will become available in other markets later this year.Second, at a time when have yet to catch on either in the U.S., Europe or Japan, TCL is eagerly positioning itself to mine the Chinese smart TV market. TCL is demonstrating its second-to-none speed in becoming a leading vendor of smart TVs with advanced features. The keys to that speed are licensable software and readily available smart TV SoCs. TCL pulled it off first by partnering with Hillcrest, and second, leveraging an Android TV SoC developed by one of the biggest Taiwanese consumer chip companies -- either MediaTek or MStar.earlier this year in an invitation-only hotel ball room in Las Vegas. Asked about a design with TCL, MediaTek, however, declined to comment. By using Hillcrests motion software, TCL is bringing motion, gesture and cursor control to Android-powered Smart TVs.Third, never underestimate the growing affluence of the middle class in China. According to a 2011 Accenture survey focused on usage and spending on consumer electronics technologies in eight countries (Brazil, China, India, Russia, France, Germany, Japan and the United States), Chinese consumers were among the most enthusiastic purchasers of the latest consumer technologies including 3-D TV and smart phones.Fourth, its important to recognize that as of the first quarter in 2012, TCL has become the first Chinese TV company to be ranked in the top five in global LCD TV market share, according to the latest market research report by DisplaySearch. The Chinese company didnt make this rapid ascent simply by making no-frills TV sets.TCL has made its great leap forward by continuing to improve its product mix and proportion of high-end products, according to the company. In April 2012, TCLs sales volume of LED-backlight LCD TVs as a percentage of total LCD TV sales volume was 72%. The sales volume of smart & internet TV and 3D TV in the Chinese market reached 339,279 sets and 145,064 sets, representing 45.9% and 19.6% of total LCD TV shipments in China.Differentiation among smart TVs comes more from software rather than hardware. In this light, Hillcrest has offered just the right kind of help TCL needed to make its motion-controlled smart TVs easy, quick and at high quality performance.

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