ZTE forays into Indian retail handset market

Chinese telecom firm ZTE Corporation has entered the Indian retail market as a standalone player, hoping that the contribution of the Indian market to its global handset sales would go up to 20 per cent from the existing 16 per cent.

“India is a key focus market for us and we are delighted to launch ZTE branded handsets in the retail market as this would play a critical role in furthering our existing market-share in the country,” ZTE India Chairman & Managing Director D K Ghosh said.

The company has launched a range of low-cost GSM handsets — S315, A261, R220, R230 and R230BT at price points ranging from Rs 1,100 to Rs 3,800, it added. It further said it has sold over 20 million handsets in India through partnerships with various telecom operators. It is targeting a network of 100,000 retail outlets in India by this year-end.

 

The company has appointed Overseas Mobiles as its national distributor for mobile and data devices. Overseas Mobiles will be appointing 80 regional distributors across India and manage relationships with distributors and corporate customers on behalf of ZTE. They will also be responsible for ensuring nationwide distribution coverage for ZTE’s range of GSM and CDMA handsets and data products.

With global sales of over 100 million handsets last year, ZTE is currently the sixth-largest handset manufacturer in the world. It has established partnerships with telcos like Vodafone, Hutchison Whampoa and Telefonica globally and BSNL, Reliance Communications, Tata, Vodafone, Spice Telecom and Aircel in India.