China’s ZTE sharpens focus on 5G after earnings recovery in 2017
World’s fourth largest telecommunications equipment supplier aims to deploy trial 5G mobile networks in China and other key markets this year
ZTE Corp, China’s largest-listed telecommunications equipment manufacturer, plans to intensify its 5G mobile development efforts after returning to profit last year.
Yin Yimin, the chairman of ZTE, said in a regulatory filing late on Thursday that the company expected “an accelerated process of 5G commercialisation” as 4G mobile network operators start to push forward network upgrades.
The Shenzhen-based company reported a net profit of 4.6 billion yuan (US$728 million) last year, rebounding from a 2.4 billion yuan loss in 2016, on the back of healthy revenue growth at its carrier networks and consumer businesses.
Revenue grew 7.5 per cent to 108.8 billion yuan from 101.2 billion in 2016, reaffirming the figure from its preliminary results announcement last month.
That implied a fourth-quarter revenue of 32.2 billion yuan, or 8.7 per cent growth from the same period in 2016, according to Jefferies equity analyst Edison Lee.
“That should remove market concerns about ZTE’s five per cent year on year revenue decline in the third quarter of last year,” Lee said.