ZTE is planning big things for 2014. It seems as though they want to up their smartphone shipments 50%, from 40 million to 60 million. Those are worldwide deliveries, which ZTE will fight while a battle back home heats up.
ZTE makes their home in China, where over one billion people use mobile devices on a growing LTE network. When it comes to network equipment, ZTE has to deal with the likes of Huawei, which is their main rival when it comes to telecom equipment. Though China is expanding rapidly, competition is fierce, even in a two-horse race between two big players.
When it comes to mobile devices, ZTE has even more work cutout for them. With Samsung establishing a presence, the addition of the iPhone on the largest carrier in China is more trouble. Couple that with Huawei making mobile devices, and you’re already in deep. An impressive Lenovo lineup only thickens the plot, and the Xiaomi quandary still looms large.
That’s a lot to handle just to keep your head above water, much less try a 50% uptick. ZTE has a few impressive devices, but also a few that leave us scratching our head. They are also said to be making their own octa-core processor, which could give them a unique leg-up on the competition. Still, a 50% jump is a lot to take on, even if you can keep up on the supply chain side of things. It will definitely be interesting to see just how ZTE plans on accomplishing this one.
