K-Touch
X90

K-Touch was a brand used by Beijing-based Tianyu Communication Equipment Co. for its mobile phones. In 2010 it was one of the biggest local mobile phone makers in China. Tianyu was founded by mobile phone distributor Rong Xiuli, who had started a handset contract-manufacturing business in 2002 before launching the K-Touch brand in 2005. The X90 was specifically designed for women. According to the Wall Street Journal, Tianyu appealed to consumers who embraced China's shanzhai culture. Shanzhai, literally translated means "mountain fortress," and was said to imply banditry and lack of state control, and often referred to the cheap and inferior name-brand knockoffs that are abundant in China. In the case of handsets, shanzhai was said to imply creative features or designs. It is not known why the brand name is spelt incorrectly on the model in the Mobile Phone Museum collection - which is labelled K-Tcuoh rather than K-Touch. It could possibly have been a prototype device.