ZTE drives success, innovation with global business model

Last July, the United States witnessed the unveiling of the world's first smart-pocket projector. Only 12cm along each side and less than 3cm thick, the LivePro features a built-in hotspot on Android interfaces. Its 10cm intuitive touchscreen display allows users to beam media content from the internet or from up to eight external devices.

It did not come as a surprise when the product was voted as one of the best in the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show held in Las Vegas. Its developer and manufacturer, ZTE (USA), is heavy on innovation.

Its parent company, telecommunications giant ZTE based in Shenzhen, holds the second-highest number of patent applications worldwide.

Following its America-China-Worldwide business model, ZTE combines Silicon Valley technology with in-house innovations, and leverages its business machinery in China to produce for the world market. Such strategy has made ZTE (USA) one of the fastest-growing manufacturers of affordable premium mobile devices in the US.

"Our consumers don't need to sacrifice quality for price," says Lixin Cheng, chairman and CEO of ZTE (USA). "They get exactly what they want because we design for all customer segments."

To achieve this, the company launched as many as 100 models of smartphones, tablets, customised communication equipment and other mobile devices in the past four years. This year alone, ZTE (USA) will be releasing 30 new products versus only a couple of models from the competition. As a result, the company has become America's fourth-largest smartphone vendor. With continuing collaboration with American technology companies such as Qualcomm, Microsoft,