ZTE launches new smartphones and data cards for India market

ZTE Corporation (ZTE) (H share stock code: 0763.HK / A share stock code: 000063.SZ), a publicly listed global provider of telecommunications equipment, network solutions and mobile devices, today launched a new range of smartphones and data cards in India to provide consumers in the country with a choice of high-performance devices to enhance their mobile experiences.

ZTE is offering six new smartphones, including the Quad-Core ZTE Grand X, featuring a brilliant five-inch, high-definition screen, in India, partnering with Calyx Telecommunications to make the devices widely available to consumers across the country. In addition, ZTE is introducing four new data cards together with partner Digilife to meet the needs of Indian consumers for high-speed data access.

ZTE, one of the world's top five mobile handset and smartphone manufacturers, provides consumers around the world a wide choice of innovative and feature-rich devices, ranging from entry-level to high-end smartphones, delighting users with thoughtful and intuitive design features that improve their mobile experiences.

"Each ZTE smartphone was introduced with the unique needs of Indian consumers in mind," said Xu Dejun, CEO of ZTE India. "ZTE is the leading global OEM supplier, and has emerged as the trusted partner of choice for Indian operators. Today, ZTE enjoys a customer base of over 32 million Indian handset users, and this widespread acceptance is testimony to our differentiated and rich product portfolio, which is backed by a strong service and support network. India is a key growth market for us, and with the foray into the open smartphone market, we are sure to offer an enhanced mobility experience to our Indian customers, further strengthening the brand of ZTE."

The six new ZTE smartphones are priced between Rs. 5 000 and Rs. 15 000, and ZTE will continue to introduce new products to expand its portfolio in the months to come, Xu said. "By year-end, ZTE aims to have our pan-India presence with the smartphones and data cards," Xu said. "We are optimistic on our marketing and channel spends and are looking at strengthening the brand from all fronts. Our distribution and sales structure is backed by a strong network of 214 service centres across the country. We are replicating the same pedigree of our global innovation leadership in the Indian market, and aim to emerge as the third-largest smartphone vendor in the country within three years. We see the strong existing customer base as a key growth propeller, helping us build synergy and drive success in the Indian smartphone market."

Gaurav Somani, Executive Director: Calyx Telecommunications, said: "We are an established player in the real estate, media and entertainment, solar power and hospitality sectors. As we diversify our portfolio to distribution channels, we are delighted to partner and support ZTE with their pan-India expansion. We are cross-pollinating ZTE's product excellence with our strong distribution reach. Realising that the service and after-sales support is key to sustaining and strengthening the brand, and as a key differentiator, we have introduced the 'At your doorstep' service model in select cities. With this unique model, we will offer ZTE customers the flexibility of getting handset service issues resolved at the convenience of their homes. We are sure this co-operation will result in perfect synergy between the two companies, which share the same vision, mission and goal of empowering the Indian handset market."

ZTE India Handsets Vice-President, Yuan Kang, said the company enjoys the leadership in the Indian data card market, and today's launch of the Swift series of 3G data cards is a step to broaden its data card portfolio for Indian customers.

Digilife Distribution and Marketing Services, and Senior VP HCL Infosystems Sanjay David, said: "We are delighted to partner with ZTE to distribute their data cards across the Indian market through our extensive and robust distribution channel. This partnership will also strengthen our portfolio for providing the widest array of offerings in the telecoms, IT and organised trade and consumer electronic channels. We foresee a huge success through this association, which will undoubtedly strengthen ZTE's presence in this segment, and we look forward to a healthy and long-lasting association with ZTE."

ZTE mobile handsets at a glance

ZTE is the No. 4 mobile handset manufacturer in the world, according to global industry analyst IDC. ZTE produces a complete range of mobile devices, including mobile phones, tablets, mobile broadband modems and hotspots, and family desktop integration terminals.

* ZTE has partnered with over 230 major carriers and distributors in more than 160 countries and regions around the world, and has strategic partnerships with 47 of the global top 50 carriers.

* In 2011, ZTE applied for more international patents than any other company in the world.

* ZTE is the first mobile handset vendor in India to receive GMA (Google Mobile App) certification.

* ZTE has aggressively focused on the smartphone market in recent years, and the ZTE Grand series, including the Grand S, which debuted at CES 2013, and the Grand Memo, which debuted at MWC 2013, highlight ZTE's transformation into a high-end flagship smartphone producer and open a new era for ZTE as a major global handset brand.

* ZTE has many industry first accolades to its name, including ZTE Open, the world's first smartphone to run on Mozilla's Firefox OS open mobile ecosystem.

All the six smartphone models launched here on Friday - ZTE Grand X, priced at 14 999; ZTE Blade G2, priced at Rs. 11 599; ZTE Blade C (dual SIM - 3G), priced at Rs. 7 599; ZTE Blade L, priced at Rs. 12 599; ZTE Kis Flex (dual SIM), priced at Rs. 5 799; and ZTE Blade E, priced at Rs. 11 999 - run on Google's Android operating system. The smartphones come with 512MB internal storage, and varying screen sizes, processor speeds, cameras and other features to meet the unique needs of a broad customer base.

ZTE Grand X

The ZTE Grand X features a brilliant five-inch HD display with other excellent features. The smartphone comes with a 1.2GHz quad-core processor, 1GB RAM and 4GB of internal memory. Along with this, the device can be upgraded to 32GB of memory with the use of memory cards. The five-inch display of the Grand X has a resolution of 5 + 0.3 megapixels dual camera.

The company announced that it will soon introduce the premium range of smartphones in India for its elite customer segment. Many of the upcoming launches will be inspired by the company's rich global smartphone portfolio, which ranges from affordable through high-end smartphones.

The Swift series of 3G data cards launched on Friday come in four variants, comprising Swift (7.2Mbps with Voice Call), priced at Rs. 1 799; Swift Plus (14.4Mbps), priced at Rs. 1 999; Swift WPlus (14.4Mbps with WiFi), priced at Rs. 2 250; and Swift Speed (21.6Mbps with Voice Call), priced at Rs. 2 499.