Background and Identification
VTech (originally called Video Technology Limited) is a manufacturer of electronic learning products (from infancy to preschool) and the world’s largest manufacturer of cordless phones. VTech is based in Hong Kong and is one of the top 50 electronic manufacturing services providers globally.
When the first single-chip microprocessor, the Intel 4004, became available in the early 1970s, VTech’s founders saw the potential the microprocessor offered for portable consumer electronics products. VTech was founded in 1976 and originally named “Video Technology Limited” in reference to the company’s first product, a video game console. VTech manufactured a range of video games, video game consoles, children’s learning toys, and personal computers. In 1985, the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) allocated the frequency band 900 MHz to industrial, scientific, and medical devices. VTech began the development of a cordless telephone using the 900 MHz band and introduced the world’s first fully digital 900 MHz cordless telephone in 1991. To expand its cordless phone business, VTech acquired Lucent Technologies, a consumer telephone business, in 2000. This acquisition gave VTech the exclusive right to use the AT&T brand for 10 years with the manufacture and sale of wireline telephones and accessories in Canada and the United States.
As of 2020, VTech’s main products include cordless telephones and electronic learning products. VTech products are sold in North America, Europe, Asia, Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East. VTech products can generally be identified by the name ‘VTech’ in all lowercase letters.