China's ZTE Targets $800 Million In Revenues From Its India Operations; Plans To Sell 4G Phones In India In 2014

ZTE Corp (SHE:000063), China’s telecommunications equipment and smartphone maker, said on Thursday that it expects to generate $800 million in revenues from the growing Indian market in 2014, and followed up the projection by announcing on Friday that it will partner with local carriers to launch 4G phones in the country.

ZTE expects to benefit from a possible boost in investments in India’s telecom sector, which has been mired in allegations of corruption, regulatory delays and lack of clarity in rules governing the foreign investment limit, after the general elections that will take place in May next year.

"Telecom companies expect clarity (in rules) after the elections and by then, the auction (for allocating licenses for electromagnetic spectrum) would have also been completed. Telecom companies have already started preparing and we expect next year to be good," Xu Dejun, ZTE India's CEO, told Press Trust of India.

The Shenzhen, Guangdong-based company, which sells smartphones such as ZTE Grand, ZTE Blade and ZTE Flash, and handles telecom companies' communications networks, has generated $400 million in revenues in the first 10 months in India, and expects to earn $100 million in the last two months of 2013.

ZTE on Friday announced its plans to launch 4G handsets in mid-2014, in association with three local carriers that are due to launch 4G next year. The Chinese company, which launched a series of handset models in India in partnership with Calyx, a local company, in May, is planning to invest $10 million next year on branding and marketing to boost its cell-phone business in the subcontinent.

“We are expecting at least four-five operators to get into the 4G business between May 2014 and 2015, and we are in talks with at least three of them for 4G equipment and handsets, as going forward, 4G will be launched with voice and data in India,” Amit Saxena, the marketing head of ZTE's terminals business in India, told DNA, a local newspaper.