ZTE aims to sell phones with own brand name

ZTE Corp's mobile phone sales will surge 60 percent year on year in 2008 and the world's sixth biggest handset maker aims to "significantly" lift sales of its own brand, the Shenzhen-based firm told Shanghai Daily yesterday.

In 2007, the firm sold 31.06 million phones globally and it expects to sell more than 50 million units this year, Gu Yongchen, general director of ZTE's corporate branding and communications department, said.

"We can achieve the target through deep cooperation with carriers and improved design (of our phones)," Gu said at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the largest annual telecommunications industry gathering.

ZTE started its handset business as a contract manufacturer, providing phones for the world's top carriers like Vodafone and China Mobile.

The Shenzhen-listed firm aims to establish its brand in the middle- and even high-end market from the entry-level segment now, industry insiders said.

In 2007, about 46 percent of phones sold by ZTE carried its brand name and the figure will surge in 2008, Gu told Shanghai Daily, though he declined to name a figure.

"With a strong telecom background, ZTE is able to increase market share through carriers' group purchase. The overseas growth and reputation will also lift the company's domestic sales in future (when 3G is available)," said Sandy Shen, an analyst at Gartner Inc.

ZTE's GSM equipment sales jumped 315 percent year on year in 2007 and those for CDMA doubled last year, according to Xu Ming, vice president of wireless products management division.