China-based TCL Communication Technology Holdings plans to re-launch Alcatel-branded handsets in the China market before the end of this year, according to a company press release.

With Alcatel-Lucent recently signing a cooperation agreement with RIM (Research in Motion), the upcoming Alcatel-branded handsets will include a Blackberry-enabled model, according to sources close to the company.

There also will be a luxury model, the N3, which is jointly developed by Alcatel and Elle, the sources added.

TCL also reported that its handset shipments jumped 30% on year, to reach 3.6 million units in the third quarter of this year, including 1.2 million units shipped to the EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) markets.

The company expects its handset shipments to grow 44% sequentially in the fourth quarter, with total shipments for all of 2007 to top 12-13 million units, the company said in the press release.

Total handset shipments are expected to hit 15-18 million units in 2008 and further expand to 25 million units in 2009, company CEO Liu Fei was quoted as indicating in the press release.