ZTE to stoke competition in US smartphone market with Apple and Samsung
Mainland smartphone maker brushes up challenge against dominant brands by connecting with consumers through NBA sponsorships
ZTE Corp plans to stir up fresh competition in the United States smartphone market, where Apple's iPhone and Samsung Electronics' Galaxy have long dominated, by building up its brand as a quality product at an affordable price, according to the company's US chief, Cheng Lixin.
After years of making handsets for the US market bearing only the telecommunications carriers' logo, ZTE decided to adjust its strategy. "Every single new device sold in the American market since June has the ZTE logo," Cheng tells .
Although working across 160 markets globally, ZTE's brand is still barely known. The Shenzhen firm has been mainly involved in building infrastructure and depended on carrier partners to push their devices. It has strategic partnerships with 47 of the world's top 50 carriers.
But now ZTE wants to be more connected with users. Thus the switch in strategy and "suddenly, we are dealing with billions of consumers", as Cheng puts it.
Cheng has been working in the US since 2001. He joined ZTE as its US chairman and chief executive in 2010, overseeing 17 offices across the US and Canada. After years of working in the US telecommunications industry, he believes he has found the "recipe" for success in this market for a Chinese company.
"What we want to do is to focus more on the consumers," Cheng says. "The direction we are heading towards is to build our brand as a leading consumer brand."
