Year of the Goat: 11 Chinese smartphone brands to watch

2014 had been a wonderful year for the ever-competitive Chinese smartphone market. We saw the birth of new brands, the record of world's thinnest phone broken three times, and a couple of companies entering India with great reception (although not without some struggle). So with MWC following right after Chinese New Year, what better way to celebrate both than to look at the top Chinese smartphone brands? Granted, not all of these companies will be on the show floor next week (not Xiaomi or Oppo, for instance), but there's no stopping us from saying "ni hao" to them, anyway.

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Alcatel OneTouch / TCL

Starting with "A" we have Alcatel OneTouch, which is fairly well known in Europe and Latin America, but is actually based in China, where it's sold under the TCL brand. The company's most recent achievement is its affordable near-circular smartwatch, simply dubbed the Watch. We're also fans of the Idol Alpha with its unique combination of metal frame and LED-lit translucent edges, but by the time it came out, the specs were already slightly out of date. That won't be the case with the company's new phones at next week's MWC, though, so stay tuned.