ZTE Joins Hands with Taiwan, China Manufacturers, Mobile Devices Aim for 100 Million Units

Mainland brand ZTE's mobile internet device shipment target is to strive for 100 million units in 2017. Lu Qianhao, Director of Mobile Phone Strategy Development at ZTE, pointed out that Taiwan, China manufacturers account for about 30 to 40% of ZTE's PCB supply chain, and he hopes the two sides of the strait will work together to create greater business opportunities.

Embracing the Mobile Internet 2.0 era, Lu Qianhao, Director of Mobile Phone Strategy Development at ZTE, pointed out that ZTE Group's three key words this year are "big data," "ICT convergence," and "precision marketing."

ZTE has two major operational goals this year. First, it hopes mobile internet device shipments can rise from 42 million units in 2013 to 60 million units this year, reaching a level of around 100 million units in 2017.

Second, whereas ZTE previously focused on models in the sub-$200 price band, this year it hopes to deepen its presence in the $200 to $400 price band. Last year ZTE established the high-end brand Nubia to enter the global high-end market.

Lu Qianhao pointed out that ZTE works closely with Taiwan, China manufacturers. For example, 80% of the parts in one ZTE phone come from Taiwan, China manufacturers; in ZTE's overall printed circuit board (PCB) supply, Taiwan, China manufacturers account for about 30% to 40%, mainly supplying ZTE's high-end models, primarily in PCB routing, contract manufacturing, HDI, and flexible boards. Unitech and Compeq are among ZTE's important supply chain partners.

In the past, Taiwan, China and the mainland joined hands in contract manufacturing, serving as solid manufacturing partners for European and American brands, but now there are no shortage of examples of mainland brands collaborating with Taiwan, China supply chains. ZTE rose to 6th place globally in smartphone shipments in 2013, with a 3.9% market share, less than 1 percentage point behind Huawei, LG, and Lenovo, which ranked 3rd to 5th, a fairly strong performance globally, and Taiwan, China manufacturers can also expect to benefit from this growth trend.