| Type | Public |
|---|---|
| Industry | Computer hardware Computer software Consumer electronics, Educational toys, Cordless telephones. |
| Founded | 1976 |
| Headquarters | Tai Po, N.T. Hong Kong |
| Products | Little Smart, Whizkid, Kidizoom, V.Smile, V.Flash |
| Revenue | US$1.448 billion (2009)[1] |
| Operating income | US$154 million (2009)[1] |
| Employees | 27,000 (2009) |
| Website | www.vtech.com |
VTech (Simplified Chinese: 伟易达 Wěi yì dá) (Traditional Chinese: 偉易達 Wěi yì dá) is the common name of Video Technology Ltd. (SEHK: 0303, OTC Markets Group: VTKHY), a Hong Kong-based manufacturer of consumer electronics. VTech products include cordless telephones and accessories, single-function computers such as email appliances, and simple computerized educational toys for children, including the V.Smile and V.Flash.
Contents |
The company was founded in 1976 by entrepreneurs Allan Wong and Stephen Leung, and as of 2009, had approximately 27,000 employees worldwide.[1] VTech Innovation, which does business as Advanced American Telephones, manufactures consumer telephones under the AT&T name, and was formerly a unit of Lucent, and prior to that AT&T.
In the 1980s and early 1990s, VTech also produced personal computers, including a series of IBM compatible PCs and the Laser 128, which was the only 100% legal clone of the popular Apple IIc computer. Apple Computer challenged VTech in court, as it had with Franklin Computer Corporation, but the Laser 128 had been produced by reverse engineering without violating any of Apple's copyrights or patents and stood up to Apple's legal challenges. VTech also released a poorly received video game console, the VTech Socrates in 1988.
VTech stayed in the personal computer market until the days of the Intel 80486, mostly selling its computers at retail mass market stores under the VTech, Laser, and Leading Technology brand names.
Currently VTech is involved in creating educational learning toys for children. Some current products include the Innotab tablet computer, V.Reader e-reader, V.Smile motion active learning system, V.Flash, MobiGo touch learning system, Kidizoom camera, Nitro Junior Notebook, and other Baby and Pre-school toys[2].