ZTE
ZTE Corporation (中兴通讯股份有限公司) is a telecommunication equipment and system provider with its headquarters located in Shenzhen, China. Its business stretches across a large number of countries, including, Australia, USA, Germany, Austria and Iran.
Founded in 1985 and listed in both the Shenzhen as well as Hong Kong stock exchanges, ZTE became the world’s fifth largest telecom equipment manufacturer by revenue after Ericsson, Huawei, Alcatel-Lucent and Nokia Siemens Networks, as well as the fourth biggest mobile phone producer by unit sales, in 2011.
Stressing the importance of the Research and Development (R&D) sector, the company drastically expanded its Code division multiple access (CDMA) business in 2006, with its new global orders reaching up to 40 percent in the market. By 2008, its customer base had expanded across 140 countries.
In 2009, the sales of ZTE’s telecom equipment designed for Global System in Mobile Communications (GSM) rocketed to the third position in the world, with its GSM gear covering 20 percent on the international market.
In Oct. 2012, the telecom giant, together with its national counterpart Huawei, got involved in a spying claim, accused by the U.S. House of Representatives Intelligence Committee for posing possible threats to U.S. national security.
ZTE denied the allegations by saying the security and integrity of its products are demonstrated and verified throughout the world.
The company has subsequently been put in a probe made by the U.S. Department of Commerce and Department of Justice for its business ties with Iran.
Later, the company forecast some 1.9 billion yuan (US$ 299.7 million) to 2 billion yuan net losses in the third quarter of the year, attributing the failure to several delayed international projects, shrinking gross profit margins in Europe and Asia as well as the negative market feedback in Iran.
