ZTE set to lead LTE, CDMA market

BANGALORE, INDIA: Research and advisory firm Gartner names ZTE Corporation (“ZTE”), a provider of telecommunications equipment and network solutions, a “Top 3” LTE network infrastructure vendor, in its latest industry report, “Dataquest Insight: Scorecard for Vendors of Long Term Evolution Network Infrastructure”

The report also adds that ZTE's strong financial position allowed it to maintain its R&D spending at 10 percent of revenue. The report also forecasts that 70 percent of UMTS vendors will gradually upgrade to HSPA+ and LTE, and that most CDMA operators will choose LTE.

In an another report, Frost & Sullivan, a consulting firm, ranks ZTE the second largest global CDMA network supplier with 25 percent market share, in its recently published research report entitled, “Global CDMA Network Market and Provider Competition Analysis”.

Frost & Sullivan anticipates that ZTE will become the number one provider in the worldwide CDMA network market by obtaining 29.3 percent global market share by 2010.

According to the report, which tracked up to 2Q09, Alcatel-Lucent and ZTE were the top two vendors leading the world’s CDMA network market with 30.1 percent and 25 percent accumulated market share by capacity respectively. The two companies are considered top tier suppliers. Tier 2 and 3 CDMA vendors worldwide include those with less than 20 percent market share.

In the recent years, CDMA market has been growing fast in Asia and China’s CDMA equipment vendors are performing outstandingly in the industry. ZTE has demonstrated strong performance throughout the Asia Pacific region, especially in China and India where it has realized exceptional CDMA market share and is shaking up the leadership of the traditional CDMA equipment manufacturers.

China and India’s CDMA subscribers account for more than 30 percent of the world’s total CDMA user population. ZTE’s CDMA market share in India and China is 35 percent and 41.5 percent respectively as of 1Q09.

ZTE’s next stage target is to realize market breakthrough in the US and other large-scale, high-end CDMA markets. The Frost & Sullivan’s analyst cites ZTE’s technology advantage in EV-DO Rev.B as an opportunity to further expand CDMA and LTE dual-mode network construction opportunities, and to strengthen its supply of CDMA terminal equipment to the worldwide market.