ZTE signs agreement with Brightpoint for UK distribution

Matt posted earlier the details of the three new ZTE phones we got to have a play with at last nights London event. The main purpose of the event though was to announce the partnership ZTE now have with Brightpoint for UK distribution. This will mean that instead of just having carrier branded devices here, like we have seen with last years Orange San Francisco, you will soon be able to buy ZTE branded phones through the normal sim free retailers and high street shops.

ZTE certainly offer value for money and we have seen that with recent devices. Could the company follow in the footsteps of HTC and soon be one of the most common brands in the industry? I don’t see why not. They expect to sell more than 80 million handsets this year!

You can read the full press release below:

ZTE Corporation (“ZTE”), a publicly-listed global provider of telecommunications equipment and network solutions, has signed an agreement with Brightpoint European Regional Services, S.L., a subsidiary of Brightpoint, Inc. (Nasdaq: CELL) (“Brightpoint”), a global leader in providing supply chain solutions to the wireless industry. The agreement with Brightpoint marks an important milestone for ZTE in increasing the company’s penetration of the UK market by providing ZTE’s high quality, feature-rich smartphones and devices to Brightpoint’s online and retail channels.

ZTE’s strategy for growth so far has proven hugely successful, partnering with some of the leading services providers in Europe. The Brightpoint agreement will see ZTE step out of the white-labeling business and into the booming brand-conscious smartphone arena. ZTE continues to challenge the established leaders in the world handset market and expects to ship more than 80 million handsets this year, up from 60 million units in 2010.

“The success of the ZTE Blade, and the overwhelmingly positive reception at this year’s Mobile World Congress of the forthcoming Skate device, demonstrate that ZTE is set to become a key player in the smartphone sector,” said Wu Sa, director of mobile device operations, ZTE UK. “We chose to work with Brightpoint since its strategy dovetails with ours. ZTE made a commitment at the start of 2011 to alter its strategy from being a feature phone-centric supplier to producing much higher-end smartphones and delivering an enhanced user experience to the mass market. We are working closely with Brightpoint to launch smartphones into the UK market this year. We expect ZTE to become a household name synonymous with high quality smartphones and tablets.”

"The European smartphone market is at its hottest right now, and it will stay hot for several years to come," says John Delaney, research director for Consumer Mobile with industry analysts IDC.  “Between the start of 2011 and the end of 2015, we expect over 725 million smartphones to be purchased in Europe. The focus in smartphones tends to be concentrated on the software platform but some of the Asian vendors are reminding us that the hardware brand, too, can still be a powerful driver for success in the smartphone market."

“We are delighted to be working with ZTE in the UK,” said James Bannister, Brightpoint’s vice president, United Kingdom and Ireland

Follow @ZTE_UK on Twitter for the latest devices news, views and competitions.

Posted by: James