ZTE to set up mobile business subsidiary

ZTE Corp will set up an independent subsidiary for mobile business as its focus returns to China as the world's biggest smartphone market, the Shenzhen-listed firm said on Thursday in Shanghai.

The world’s No. 8 smartphone vendor will develop the potential of the Chinese market, which now only accounts for 10 percent of its global smartphone sales. Comparatively, ZTE is among the top 5 in major overseas markets including the United States, Canada, Mexico, Australia and Spain, said Cheng Lixin, CEO of ZTE Mobile Devices and chairman of the unnamed mobile business subsidiary.

The subsidiary's business will cover devices with cloud and connection technologies and industrial-use phones with special security features, ZTE said, adding that research, manufacturing and sales in the domestic market will also be part of its purview.

ZTE, the biggest public telecommunications equipment maker in China, posted a revenue of 108 billion yuan (US$16.9 billion) and a net profit of 4.57 billion yuan last year, the Shenzhen-listed firm said.