IT industry: the history of Alcatel. Alcatel brand history

is a French company that provides supply and development services for telecommunications equipment in 130 countries. The development of mobile phones, tablets and smartphones is only a side business for Alcatel, and the main (and very successful) one is the installation of broadband networks. The company began to develop the mobile device market only in 2004 after merging with the Chinese company TCL, so the statement that Alcatel smartphones are manufactured in Europe is erroneous.

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What are Alcatel gadgets?

Alcatel smartphones have the same advantage as other Chinese gadgets - low price with high functionality. Alcatels differ from typical “Chinese” models in their sophisticated design (which experts did not fail to dub “French”), loud speakers and a high-quality display.

The real breakthrough of Alcatel smartphones happened in 2014, when the mobile congress in Barcelona actually became a benefit for the company. Representatives of the company brought two new lines at once: Pop And Idol 2.

Typical smartphone user from the catalog Pop- this is a teenager. For a low cost (about 5 thousand rubles), the user received Android, the latest version at the time of release of version 4.4 (KitKat), HD sound, the ability to work in LTE networks and install two SIM cards at once. The models of the line differed in screen diagonal (smallest C3– 4 inches, largest C9– 5.5 inches) and a little in terms of functionality (for example, camera resolution).

Idol 2 – a series that combines lightweight and productive smartphones with a memorable, sophisticated design. Standard Idol 2 has a 5-inch diagonal screen, but a version was also produced within the line Idol Mini smaller size with a 4.5-inch diagonal screen. It is believed that the models Mini They are more suitable for girls, for whom holding a five-inch smartphone in one hand is often uncomfortable. Interestingly, on the models Idol 2 uses a unique shell from Alcatel, which has received approval from Google.

The Idol series has become very popular and has been continued - in 2016 they are preparing to release a model 4 And 4 S.

Review of the disadvantages of Alcatel mobile phones

Unfortunately, many Alcatel users have complaints about the quality of smartphones and, above all, about the performance of the software. In reviews you can often find complaints that the smartphone freezes, the SD card cannot be read, and music files cannot be played. Therefore, it must be stated that if Alcatel expects to stand on a par with leading gadget manufacturers, it will have to seriously work on minimizing the percentage of factory defects.

3 years ago

The history of Alcatel begins back in 1898. It was then that the CGE - Compagnie Générale d’Electricité company was founded in Alsace by the Frenchman Pierre Azaria.

When starting to implement his plans, the engineer set the goal of creating a new company. One that could immediately enter into successful competition with Siemens, AEG and General Electric. At the same time, he defined the field of activity of CGE - communications equipment.

It must be admitted that in the first years the company developed rapidly. And already in 1925, it absorbed the plant, which specialized in the manufacture of cable products. This is Compagnie Generale des Cables de Lyon. In 1966, CGE had already reached such a level of development that it was able to absorb another, also French, company - Societe Alsacienne de Constructions Atomiques, de Telecommunications et d'Electronique.

Such transformations also led to a change in the company's name. This means that Alcatel is an acronym derived from the first letters of this long name.

ALCATEL as a brand was finally assigned to the company in 1985. This year marks the beginning of new mergers. Acquisitions and mergers will continue to occur very often. For example, in 2006 Alcatel merged with the American company Lucent Technologies. This is how Alcatel-Lucent was born. The company's brand continues to produce telecommunications and computer equipment and software.

Over its history, Alcatel has established itself in more than 130 countries on the planet. Please note that 20 percent of all subscribers who are connected to the GSM cellular network are served using devices from this particular company.

Alcatel has been operating in Russia for a quarter of a century. Let us recall that the first GSM-900 cellular network was built in our country based on equipment from a company from France. Alcatel cell phones can still be seen on sale today. And it just so happens that for some Russians the Alcatel brand is associated specifically with mobile phones.

However, it must be said that the production of mobile devices was not a priority for Alcatel. Never! In 2004, one of the divisions of Alcatel, which specialized in the production of mobile phones, and a related division of the Chinese company TCL merged. The result was a new venture, TAMP (TCL & Alcatel Mobile Phone). This is how Alcatel phones began to be produced in the Middle Kingdom.

In 2005, TCL purchased all TAMP shares from Alcatel. As a result, the company was renamed TCT Mobile. After concluding a licensing agreement with the French, it was the Chinese who began producing phones under the Alcatel brand. This means that every Alcatel phone produced after 2005 is a TCT Mobile product whose quality has improved.

TCL Multimedia Technology Holdings Ltd. is one of the largest electronic equipment manufacturing companies in China. Began its activities in 1981. TCL was founded by the Chinese government and initially only dealt with government contracts. Mainly by manufacturing electronic components for wide use, tape cassettes, and so on. However, later orders began to arrive from private companies, and not only from China. TCL owes a lot to such companies as Philips, Toshiba, Panasonic.

Thanks to Western partners, TCL discovered new business horizons, and by the end of the 80s they began to assemble their own boards for video devices and other household appliances. By the end of the 90s, the Chinese electrical equipment manufacturer was seriously thinking about promoting its products on the world market. TCL received a very warm welcome in Europe and North America. The company's products quickly entered Western markets, and TCL announced itself to the world.

Throughout its history, TCL has always put innovation first. In China, they became pioneers in many areas - computer technology, mobile devices, household appliances.

Nowadays

In the CIS countries they learned about TCL through mobile phones Alcatel phones. In 2004, the Chinese company bought this French brand and merged it with its subsidiary TCL Communication. The newly formed organization was named TCL & Alcatel Mobile Phones Limited. The purchase of Alcatel was a major milestone in the company's history. Sales of mobile devices under this brand have been growing every year. In 2010, TCL were able to sell 36 million devices and accessories. In 2011, Alcatel tablets appeared on the world market.

TCL's revenues grew by leaps and bounds. Trying to consolidate its financial success and at the same time get another industrial giant as a partner, TCL Corporation establishes a joint venture with Toshiba Consumer. The established company begins production of washing machines and refrigerators.

TCL does not stand still and continues to explore various areas of electronic equipment. Today, the company occupies one of the leading positions in the world in the production of household appliances, video equipment, home and mobile phones, cooling equipment, etc. They have representative offices in many European and Asian countries, but TCL management plans to establish a unified production of its products in America , European and Asian continents.

About Alcatel phones

It is unknown what the fate of this French brand would have been like if it had not joined the ranks of TCL. However, one myth should be immediately dispelled - mobile devices are just a side business for Alcatel. The main area of ​​activity is telecommunications equipment. Moreover, this business is very successful. Perhaps this name became known to the average person only thanks to telephones, but in fact Alcatel has long penetrated into all sorts of corners of the mobile business: supplying communication technologies for cellular operators and Internet providers, providing a wide range of services to large corporations and government organizations, installing and servicing broadband mobile networks around the world. And this is just a small part of what Alcatel does. But the French preferred to conduct business with mobile phones together with TCL.

Alcatel phones have proven themselves to be durable, non-award-winning devices at an affordable price. The smartphones run on the Android OS, have high image clarity, a nice design with a hint of rigor, a camera with relatively good resolutions and fairly good performance. Users also praise the loud and clear sound.

Among the shortcomings, the fragility of the work is noted. Some owners complain about Android malfunctions after several months. The inconvenient SIM card slot also makes up a small percentage of all negative reviews. These disadvantages are not a drop in the ocean, but do not yet allow us to classify Alcatel smartphones as “failures”. After all, as mentioned above, sales growth is steadily increasing, and consumers are accustomed to voting with their banknotes. The latest on our website about Alcatel smartphones.

State Corporation "Rostechnologies" formed in accordance with Federal Law of November 23, 2007 No. 270-FZ. The goal of its activities is to promote the development, production and export of high-tech industrial products by supporting Russian organizations - developers and manufacturers of high-tech industrial products in the domestic and foreign markets, as well as by attracting investment in various industries.

"So here n ie joint venture, where priority is given to production and promotion here Dov s telecommunications products, became a reflection of the policy on our corporation, supported by the country's leadership and aimed at creating high-tech industries and developing science to their industries. We value cooperation with a reliable and respected desk in the market. ner, Alcatel-Lucent, for its ability to offer innovative solutions, source for whom I serve at Bell Laboratories, the company's world-renowned research and development center. Investing in the future With the highest class technologies, we will be able to help strengthen the telecommunications industry in Russia.”

Alcatel-Lucent Company creates solutions that enable carriers, enterprises and governments around the world to deliver voice, video and data services to end users. Alcatel-Lucent is a leader in fixed, mobile and converged broadband access, IP technologies for operators and enterprises, services and applications.

“The partnership with the Russian Technologies State Corporation is in line with our transformation strategy, one of the provisions of which is to develop an ecosystem of partners in order to make the best use of the experience and knowledge of local companies. This expands Alcatel-Lucent's ability to market solutions to the fast-growing telecom and enterprise communications service provider segments in the region. It should be noted that Alcatel-Lucent became the first foreign company among suppliers of equipment for communication networks to reach such a large-scale level of investment and such a deep level of technological cooperation in Russia, which further expanded the local component of the company’s business here. It is also important that we created our joint venture focusing on truly innovative IP-based technologies.

The main strategy for entering the market was to combine the strengths of each partner. Alcatel-Lucent contributed its innovations, experience and knowledge in the field of modern telecommunications technologies to the joint venture. The Russian Technologies State Corporation provided production capacity, as well as knowledge of the characteristics of the Russian market, the required level of reliability and safety, determined by Russian government organizations.

Gadget manufacturers

Domestic consumers know Alcatel well for the cell phones produced under this brand. However, the production of mobile devices is not the only business of the French company, since it is one of the recognized leaders in the world market in the field of telecommunications.

The entire history of Alcatel's development is a complex and confusing series of mergers and acquisitions of various companies and enterprises.

This process clearly characterizes what is happening in the European world of IT technologies and the corresponding business sector. Fortunately, this did not at all prevent the company from constantly developing actively, increasing production volumes and increasing its own income.

The brand's pedigree dates back to 1869, when a small manufacturing company was founded in Cleveland, Ohio. Three years later it was renamed the Western Electric Company.

Well, a few years later, a controlling stake in the newly formed company was acquired by American Bell, which made it the exclusive developer and manufacturer of equipment for Bell phones themselves. This is how the “telephone” history of the future brand began.

In 1898, French engineer Pierre Azaria founded the CGE company, trying to follow the example of “giants” like. This happened in the northeast of France in the picturesque Alsace region, well known to history buffs.

Little is known about Pierre Hazard, and he is remembered primarily as the founder of the company, which in the future will be called Alcatel. The beginning was quite modest.

The company produced various electrical equipment and was practically unknown to anyone outside its country. This went on for almost twenty years.

In 1925, simultaneously with the takeover of the cable production plant, entry into the international market began. Then comes a long and unpleasant break. The war stops the development of industry and negatively affects the entire French society.

The 40s of the 20th century are associated with the genius of Claude Shannon. His work on the mathematical theory of communications was initially strictly classified, and the world only learned about it in the late 40s.

It was this that became the basis for numerous studies, the result of which were modern techniques for processing and transmitting information. Thanks to Shannon, engineers gained maximum insight into the throughput of any communications system.

In the 50s, the laboratory of the already familiar Western Electric company also released its new invention - a battery, through which sunlight could now be converted into electricity. What did all this have to do with CGE and telephone communications? Humanity stood on the threshold of great inventions.

A few years later, the first transatlantic telephone cable was put into operation, which could simultaneously handle over thirty calls, and Western Electric began working for the government, mass producing the corresponding equipment.

It was small, but this event becomes a rapid impetus for rapid development. CGE is actively involved in France's largest space projects.

In 1969, the UNIX operating system was invented - simple software for computers of any size. Its appearance meant that creating an open system was also possible. It is UNIX that will become the basis for the Internet in the future.

Both this operating system and the C programming language are created at Bell Laboratories, that is, at Western Electric. The C language provided an unprecedented combination of expressiveness and programming efficiency.

In addition, computing is becoming more portable. Today, the largest servers operate on UNIX, and the C language is widely used throughout the world.

In the 1970s, Bell Laboratories maintained cellular communications systems in Chicago. At the same time, in the mid-70s, the future Alcatel company began its work in Russia, building a satellite ground station in order to organize a “hot” line between the Kremlin and the White House.

She also helps in other projects - for example, in preparation for the 1980 Olympics, in the construction of a gas pipeline from Urengoy to Uzhgorod and the laying of the Baku-Shevchenko undersea cable.

In 1980, a digital signal processor was developed and introduced at Bell Laboratories.

Two years later, Jean-Pierre Brunet becomes chairman of CGE. This time is associated with an antitrust lawsuit, as a result of which Western Electric gets the AT&T Technologies division.

This division had its own, separate market, focused on the production and sale of consumer goods, as well as technological, information and network systems.

In 1984, Georges Peberot became chairman of CGE, and he immediately set about changing the structure of the company. The telecommunications divisions become part of Thomson Telecommunications, after which they become the property of CGE.

The name Alcatel was assigned to the company in 1985, when Alsthom Atlantique was renamed. Thomson Telecommunications merges with CIT-Alcatel, and the whole thing takes on the Alcatel name.

However, the long series of mergers and acquisitions does not end there, but is only beginning to gain momentum.

A year later, Alcatel NV was created, and this happened under an agreement with the ITT corporation, which cooperates with CGE. A new chairman of the board is also elected.

In 1987, such an important event took place: the privatization of CGE. In addition, Alsthom begins to supply equipment for the needs of the TGV Atlantique.

The next year was marked by another historical process of unification - the British General Electric (which the French founder of Alcatel also once looked up to) with Alsthom.

Later, CGE signed an agreement with General Electric, according to which the company GEC Alsthom was created (later renamed). At the end of the 80s, new agreements followed, the acquisition of enterprises and a controlling stake in CEAC.

In 1990, Alcatel again showed itself in Russia. Definitely, it is aimed at long-term cooperation and development of the telecommunications sector.

In 1993, a center was even created, now called the Alcatel-Lucent Training Center, a joint Russian-Belgian venture to train customers in new technologies.

And today it is the only center in the Russian Federation that provides certified training on special equipment (in Russian and English). Over ten thousand specialists have already been trained there.

Let's go back to 1991. After CGE became Alcatel Alsthom, the communications division of Rockwell Technologies was acquired. Following this, Cebles de Lyon receives the name Alcatel Cable. Another important enterprise is being purchased.

The following years will also be marked by mergers and acquisitions. In 1995, Serge Churuk became chairman; he also receives the position of chief executive officer.

Like his predecessor, Georges Peberot, he is actively pursuing restructuring. At the same time, Churuk focuses his attention specifically on telecommunications.

In 1998, another event occurs: Alcatel Alsthom, now simply Alcatel, absorbs DSC, which has gained a foothold in the American market. Next year, three more network solutions companies will be acquired.

Alcatel's strategy at the beginning of the 21st century is not too different from everything that happened in the 90s. The year 2000 brought a lucrative agreement to acquire a company from Canada that was engaged in ATM technologies and was a recognized leader in the field of network solutions.

This is followed by the acquisition of other successful and large companies, one of which is engaged in call processing, and the other in the creation of optical filters. Needless to say, Alcatel had a more than productive year. The years 2001, 2002 and 2003 are no less fruitful.

By 2004, the company's sales volumes exceeded 17 billion euros. Alcatel's main competition at this moment comes from such “monsters” as Siemens.

Yes, it was Siemens, which once inspired a French engineer named Pierre Azaria to create his own small company. In the future, this company will be called the Alcatel company.

In the same year, a major event occurs: TCL and Alcatel create a joint venture to develop and produce mobile devices. TCL has slightly more shares than Alcatel, but overall they receive equal rights.

This is followed by the acquisition of another large company, whose solutions are actively used by mobile operators. And by the way, at the same time Lucent reported rapid revenue growth (after the success of 2000).

In 2005, Concert finally completed the purchase of a large American company that provided software mobile solutions.

Next year becomes even more important: Alcatel announces that it intends to merge with US-based rival Lucent Technologies.

This significant event takes place in November 2006. The new company is called Alcatel-Lucent. In the 21st century, it has secured its position as the largest French manufacturer of telecommunications equipment.

All subsequent years have been working to strengthen the brand’s position in the international market. Alcatel currently designs, develops and markets mobile devices and telecommunications equipment.

It constantly increases its income through sales of mobile equipment. Alcatel is today the third company in Europe in the production of GSM-standard devices (over 20% of the total). Of course, its performance is very far from the leading “giants” in the mobile technology market.

Nevertheless, Alcatel products are widely known among Europeans. It is of quite high quality. And this despite the fact that a company with 100% European capital is now a rarity.

Obviously, by the end of 2014, the concern no longer resembles much the “team” of various IT firms that was created during the 80s and 90s of the last century.

It is also noteworthy that Alcatel’s presence is observed in all telecommunications areas, and not every IT company can boast of this. Alcatel is a leader in the field of network technologies and a leading provider of mobile communications services.

However, the “turbulent past” could not pass without a trace. Thus, the company also includes a variety of divisions that are responsible for laying cables at great depths, producing control systems for the railway industry, etc.

There is even a branch of Alcatel Space, a manufacturer of satellites for the planet Earth. By the way, the “mobile” part of the business can only compete with the “space” component.

It is easy to find Alcatel brand phones (Alcatel OneTouch) on domestic shelves and in online stores. Initially, it also belonged to the French, but everything changed in 2004 after the creation of a joint venture (together with the TLC company from China).

The headquarters of the telephone brand is also located in Hong Kong, and all production is concentrated in China. In addition to phones and smartphones, tablet computers and accessories are produced under this brand.

The range of devices looks quite interesting.

Take, for example, the OneTouch Hero tablet phone. This is an excellent alternative to Samsung's Galaxy Note series devices, and is also a great solution with a large screen and a stylus included. It is proposed to purchase another unusual accessory for it: a headset in the form of... a telephone.