Financial Times: The success of ZTE mobile phones in the United States

Four years ago, China Telecom equipment manufacturer ZTE (ZTE) was labeled as a "security threat" by the US Congress. Now the company has quietly grown into the third-largest seller of Android smartphones in the United States.

The success of the Shenzhen company shows that although high technology is still one of the most politically economic sectors in US-China trade relations – the two countries restrict each other’s imports – but some companies are still trying to get it. growing up healthily.

Bryan Ma of IDC, a technology consultancy, said: "It is nonsense to say that Chinese companies cannot enter the US market. ZTE is the number one evidence."

When competitors such as Huawei and Xiaomi are committed to developing low-end mobile phones such as India and Brazil, ZTE has begun to conduct a full range of public relations activities in the high-end market in the United States. In 2010, ZTE’s mobile phone has no foothold in the US. According to IDC, its market share in the US smartphone market reached 7.5% in the third quarter of 2015 (compared with 6.8% in the same period of 2014), followed by Samsung (Samsung). After LG and Apple.


ZTE's public relations activities include the launch of a new, more plausible trademark, sponsoring five teams in the NBA, including the Houston Rockets, the Golden State warriors and the Chicago Bulls. (Chicago Bulls).

ZTE found its own market position in the United States: the low-cost choice among mobile phones sold by operators. The price of its mobile phone in the United States is as low as $30.

ZTE said: "Consumers are becoming more aware of smartphones." The company said that high-end components allow its phones to compete with much more expensive products.

ZTE also said that as US mobile operators reduce the use of the two-year contract subsidy model, they turn to a model without subsidies. "Consumers are becoming more aware of equipment costs because they now spend money on hardware." The demand for ZTE, a high-profile low-cost mobile phone.

Wang Yanhui, secretary-general of the Beijing-based industry association Mobile Phone China Alliance, said that the lower-end smartphone market in the US "is actually easy to enter, as long as it is willing to invest resources in the market."

Wang Yanhui said: "If the mobile phone is cheaper than the money, no one cares about security issues."

ZTE will now hope to send it to its Axon. The Android phone is equipped with a 5.5-inch screen and two cameras. The components are mainly American brands, such as Corning's Gorilla Glass and Qualcomm's 骁. Snapdragon processor.

Although ZTE is known for manufacturing large-scale telecommunications equipment, it has been banned from selling such products in the United States since 2012, when the House Intelligence Committee accused ZTE and Huawei of acting as spies for the Chinese government. The committee wrote in the report: "The provision of equipment by Huawei and ZTE for critical US infrastructure may harm the core national security interests of the United States, and it is impossible to believe that the two companies are not affected by diplomacy and the state."

That investigation made ZTE and Huawei unfettered, unable to invest or acquire US companies, or engage in any major technology transactions with the US government. But except for smartphones alone, ZTE quickly took action to take advantage of this.

Huawei will shift its focus to Europe and emerging markets.

ZTE attributed its success in the US smartphone market to high-quality, low-cost mobile phones and “open dialogue” with Washington, whose CEO traveled frequently to Washington, usually twice a year.

The two companies have long denied denial charges. A person familiar with ZTE revealed that ZTE believes that the investigation that he was involved in in 2012 was subject to "collateral damage." Huawei was the real target and was connected with Huawei.

Huawei has also recently taken action to enter the US smartphone market. Last year, Huawei and Google (Google) jointly developed the Nexus 6P.