ZTE pushes low-cost Android device for growth

Android finally, after all the speculations, enters the mid segment ! 

GSMA Business Briefing

July 15, 2010

Chinese vendor ZTE today unveiled its first Android smartphone for the UK market, a move the company hopes will set it on its way to becoming the country’s number four device vendor, and the world’s number three, by 2015. Available exclusively on the 3 UK network, the ZTE Racer will be offered on a prepay basis for £99.99. Although ZTE trails rival device vendors in launching Android smartphones, it claims that the low price of the device will give it a competitive edge. “To be the first to market [with Android] is not so important to us, what’s important is to bring Android to the mass market,” Wu Sa, director of mobile device operations for ZTE UK, told Mobile Business Briefing. The device is also 3’s first Android handset to break the £100 barrier. “This will make the Android touchscreen experience affordable,” said David Kerrigan, head of Internet services at the UK operator. Other specs include HSDPA 7.2Mb/s capability, Android 2.1 support, a 3.2MP camera and 256MB of internal memory.

Earlier this year ZTE unveiled its first Android device – the Link – via French operator Bouygues. More European Android device launches will follow this year, and ZTE’s Wu Sa said the company will not limit itself to the low-cost market. Although ZTE supports almost all smartphone operating systems, Wu Sa called Android “one of the most important smartphone platforms” for the vendor. ZTE supplies mobile software, devices and network equipment and reported total revenue of US$9 billion in 2009. It is currently the world’s sixth-largest handset vendor and expects to ship 80 million units this year.