Telecom Lead @ Mobile World Congress 2013: ZTE is targeting 30 percent increase in smartphone revenues in 2013.

The Chinese telecom equipment and ICT solutions provider said it will aim at maintaining its position as one of the top 4 global handset manufacturers.

Huawei and ZTE have grown volumes by focusing on the mass market.

“But in recent quarters they have turned their attention toward higher-end devices. In addition, both companies have pushed the envelope in terms of industrial design with larger displays and smaller form factors, as well as innovative applications and experiences,” said Ramon Llamas, research manager with IDC’s Mobile Phone team.

According to IDC, Huawei is the top three smartphone vendor in the world. To reach this milestone, Huawei has courted both the mass market with its simple smartphones and the high-end of the market with its Ascend-branded product line.

IDC says ZTE shipped 65 million handsets in 2012, accounting for 3.8 percent of the global handset market and confirming ZTE as one of the top 4 handset producers.

ZTE also aims to become a top 3 handset manufacturer by 2015.

IDC says Huawei, which overtook LG as a Top 5 vendor in the overall mobile phone market, passed HTC to become a Top 5 smartphone vendor.

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“We know that our future success means we have to build the ZTE brand, and another target for us is to be a top 5 vendor in terms of brand awareness and reputation within the next three years,” said He Shiyou, EVP and head of the Mobile Devices Division at ZTE.

Revenues from China, the U.S. and Europe now account for more than 70 percent of ZTE’s handset revenues, with the majority of those sales being smartphones.

ZTE has partnerships with 47 among the global top 50 carriers and is building a worldwide distribution channel for sales of ZTE-branded phones through online and high street retailers.

Revenues from distribution channels continue to grow and recently passed the mark of making up more than 15 percent of total ZTE handset revenues for the first time.

ZTE’s transformation into an own-brand smartphone market player has shown strong results, with 2012 smartphones sales up 100 percent on 2011, and with smartphone revenues accounting for 70 percent of total handset revenues.

The company aims to increase the smartphone share of its overall corporate handset sales volume by 60 percent in 2013, with Europe and North America accounting for 60 percent of ZTE’s overall handset sales outside China.

“In 2013 we will target the high-end product market, build our brand, further enhance our hardware and software design capabilities, and rapidly build our routes to market through multiple channels, pursuing both the OEM/ODM and carrier/channel markets,” He said.

Over the next 2-3 years, ZTE expects to develop websites in a further 30 strategic countries around the world to provide product information and support, with all sites optimised for mobile device access.

ZTE will launch a further model in the Grand series of high-end smartphones at Mobile World Congress, following the launch of the Grand S LTE (4G) smartphone with a 13MP camera and 5-inch screen at CES 2013 in Las Vegas in January.

Arvind Krishna
[email protected]