More China IP Communications Stories

A global provider of telecommunications equipment and network solutions, ZTE Corporation recently achieved a rare milestone by shipping 60 million terminal products including 35 million handsets in the first half of 2011. ZTE attributed this success to the company’s innovative smart terminal strategy announced at the beginning of 2011.

In a press release, ZTE said that the achievement represents an approximately 30 percent increase in the handset shipment on year-on-year basis. This outstanding performance culminated in 400 percent increase in the company’s smartphone sales. In addition, the company claimed to have experienced 300 percent US market growth.

In the release, ZTE said that having sold 2.5 million Blade handsets globally, its Blade has become one of the world’s top-selling smartphones. ZTE’s Blade is sold in nearly 50 countries and regions through partnership with approximately 80 global partners. The Blade’s daily sales in China are the nation’s highest for Android (News - Alert) smartphones, averaging 16,000 units per day.

ZTE hopes to break the five million mark for its Blade product later this year. The firm also expects to ship 12 million smart terminals in the second half of the year.

ZTE claimed to have grown its market share in four major strategic markets, namely China, North America, Europe and Latin America. Forging partnership with top operators in the market has occupied a significant portion in the company’s business expansion strategy. As a result of its partnerships with top carriers in the United States, sales of ZTE handsets there rose 300 percent in the first half of 2011, the company revealed.

In Europe, ZTE is partnering with over 65 operators on smartphones, with its handset sales increasing over 30 percent in the region in the same time period. In Latin America, ZTE’s share of the Brazilian market rose 46 percent.

According to market analyst IDC’s (News - Alert) World Mobile Phone Tracker July 2011 report,   ZTE is the fifth-largest mobile phone vendor in the world after it shipped the units in the first two quarters of the year. According to the report, ZTE and Apple (News - Alert) are the only two vendors among the top five that experienced over 30 percent gains in market share growth. After gaining more than 30 percent in market share for five consecutive years, ZTE will continue to seek to grow its handset business.

“We are pleased with the success of the Blade worldwide and of our other handsets in other major markets. We aim to launch over 30 smart terminals during the remainder of 2011, including middle to high-end smartphones such as SKATE, Windows Phone 7 and TD-LTE (News - Alert) dual-module and dual-waiting models,” ZTE Executive Vice President He Shiyou said in a statement.

Earlier ZTE Corporation announced the winning of a contract to build a metro Ethernet transport network CEN (Carrier Ethernet Network) project for the Philippines' largest mobile carrier, Smart Communications.

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