ZTE to dominate Philippine smartphone market

MANILA -- Chinese smartphone maker ZTE Corporation is looking at dominating the Philippine smartphone market with affordable handsets in the immediate next three years.

"We want each and every Filipino to have their own handsets which is what our positioning is all about - brand for all," said company managing director In Southeast Asia Jeff Zhou Fang in a media briefing Wednesday.

The company admitted that it has yet to be a big player in the Philippines with barely a year of presence in the smartphone market though it has already become the world's fourth largest mobile phone manufacturer based on 2012 unit sale.

But, once it realized its goal of being the top mobile phone provider in the Philippines, the company may migrate part of its manufacturing functions here.

At present, the company has manufacturing plants in China, Venezuela and Kazakhstan in Eastern Europe.

As marketing strategy, ZTE exclusive distributor MSI-ECS Philippines, Inc. said that the China phone will not be competing with local brands.

"Our phone is comparable to high-end handsets in the market. We don't compete in the unbranded category," MSI president and CEO Jimmy Go said.

ZTE launched its affordable mobile phone line in the Philippines in 2012. It aims to further buttress it presence in the Philippines with the introduction of four new models, two of which are entry level mobile phones ZTE Kis II-795 and ZTE V829.

For more advanced smartphone features, there are the ZTE V967S and ZTE V969 units.

Fang said the company plans to increase smartphone usage in the Philippines to 50 percent from the current 20 percent with the introduction of the new four models.