Chinese handset maker ZTE aims to garner 10 per cent share of the global smartphone market within three years as it expands its portfolio of Grand and Nubia devices, introduces wearable technology products and sets up retail stores across the world.
"Technology is changing fast and we want to offer the best to users at affordable prices. There is a huge potential in wearable technology and with our smartwatches, we want to offer the best to our customers but at affordable prices," ZTE Corp Head (Handset Strategy) Lv Qian Hao said at the sidelines of the ZTE International Media Spring Luncheon 2014 here.
The firm has less than 5 per cent share in the smartphone market, he added.
Research firm Gartner put global smartphone sales at 250.2 million in the July-September 2013 quarter.
Samsung was the segment leader with 32.1 per cent share, followed by Apple (12.1 per cent), Lenovo (5.1 per cent), LG Electronics (5.1 per cent) and ZTE's Chinese peer Huawei (4.7 per cent).
ZTE, which used to supply handsets to operators, is now betting big on the open market. It aims to increase smartphone sales by 50 per cent to 60 million devices this year.
"In most countries, including India, sales from handsets bundled by operators is declining. At the same time, the open handset market is booming led by smartphones. So, we are focusing on offering the latest devices which are at par with products from the likes of Samsung and Apple," Lv said.
He added that ZTE sold 40 million smartphones last year and is looking at sales of 60 million units this year.
In value terms, 30 per cent of the smartphones sales are expected to come from 4G LTE devices, Lv said.
Joining the wearable technology brigade, ZTE will launch its 'Grand Watch' by the end of this quarter competing with giants like Samsung and Sony.
Besides, ZTE will roll out the successor of its Grand S smartphone -- Grand S2 -- in this quarter across 10 major markets, including India. The Android-based 2.2 GHz quad-core device was unveiled at the CES 2014 in Las Vegas last week.
