DUBAI: Chinese telecom player ZTE is cashing in on the growing smartphone demand and aims to become a reputed player within the next two years.
“We are a new player to the Middle East market and had just entered the market this year. What we want to offer is a fashionable design with modern technology at an affordable price range,” Tiang Ning, vice-president for Middle East and North Africa at ZTE mobile devices, told Gulf News.
ZTE launched eight new smartphones, including 3G and 4G LTE, with prices ranging from Dh299 to Dh1,699.
ZTE aims to sell around 500,000 units this year in the UAE.
So far, he said that China and the US are our biggest markets but the Chinese market is getting very aggressive and competitive.
The ambitious Chinese vendor sold 44 million devices last year globally and aims to touch 60 million this year.
“We have been in the handset business for 16 years and has accumulated a lot of experience in terms of design, research and development and is working with 160 operators worldwide,” he said.
Ning said that ZTE’s innovation is on 4G devices and aims to attain two per cent of the Mideast market share.
“Our main business comes from telecom operators and we are putting more resources into the market to boost our market share,” he said.
“The UAE is one of the leaders in the global telecommunication industry with sophisticated growth in 4G network market, is one of our most concerned markets. In order to strengthen ZTE’s pioneer position in the GCC market, we see Dubai as an access to integrate into the wider Middle East & North Africa (Mena) region. We will launch premium products in this region through open channel and operator channel,” he said.
This region is definitely one of the primary target markets for ZTE and “we are committed to establish our brand in the smartphone market by providing products that are suitable to consumers’ needs,” Tian said.
