Home brands ring louder overseas

A promoter displays one of the latest smartphones from ZTE Corp, the Blade L2, during its launch in Singapore on Aug 13, 2014. The Chinese telecom company is among a growing number of Asian brands that are challenging the dominance of Apple and Samsung in world market.[Provided to China Daily]

Even though China's top 10 largest mobile phone exporters were still the international brands such as Apple and Samsung and their original equipment manufacturers, Chinese mobile phone manufacturers－led by TCL, ZTE and Huawei－saw their market share increase by 1.3 percentage points to 7.9 percent in 2014, according to the General Administration of Customs.

TCL Communication Technology Holdings Ltd came 11th on the list, while Huawei Technologies and ZTE Corp were in 13th and 14th place in terms of their export volume.

Xiaomi Corp roared ahead in 2014, with its ranking jumping to 37th place in 2014 from 69th a year earlier. Its export value increased more than nine times last year and the volume of its exported mobile phones shot up almost 20 times year-on-year.

"Better experiences of mobile phone applications and operating systems have become the major reason for consumers to opt for phones made by Chinese companies," said Geng Yan, general manager of the Internet industry research center of CCID Consulting.

Coolpad Group Ltd saw its sales revenue in overseas markets increase by 300 percent in 2014 to reach 2 billion yuan ($319 million) in 2014. For Coolpad, which has businesses in the United States, Europe and the Asia-Pacific, this year will be crucial for the company in terms of overseas expansion, as it aims at achieving an annual growth rate of 100 percent in the next three to five years.

Based on Lenovo's sales numbers in the first three quarters provided by consultancy firm IDC, it is estimated that the company could have sold at least 90 million mobile phones in 2014, including sales of Motorola smartphones, which Lenovo acquired for $2.9 billion in 2014.

Yang Yuanqing, chairman and CEO of Lenovo Group Ltd, said in an earlier interview that the acquisition of Motorola Mobility helps provide Lenovo with opportunities to enter markets outside China, including North America, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, and the rest of Asia. Motorola has also had extensive operations with the world's top 50 operators.

More importantly, Lenovo will be able to obtain the 2,000 patents that Motorola holds. For most Chinese companies, the lack of patents makes it very difficult to enter mature markets such as North America, Western Europe and Japan.

According to figures provided by TCL at the beginning of this year, the company sold a total of 73.49 million mobile phones in 2014, 85 percent of which were in the ever-growing overseas market.

TCL was one of the first Chinese mobile phone makers to venture overseas. By acquiring Alcatel's mobile phone business in 2004, it has rapidly upgraded in terms of backup technology. Meanwhile, its distribution channel of operators has largely been boosted by Alcatel's overseas network.