ZTE targets 60-70 million smartphone sales in 2016

ZTE is targeting a growth of 60-70 million units in 2016 with the introduction of its new high-volume value-priced line of smartphones, a company executive was quoted as saying Monday by Reuters. The world's sixth-largest smartphone-maker launched two new phones — the Blade V7 and the V7 Lite — in its latest smartphone line-up during the ongoing Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2016 in Barcelona.

Waiman Lam, ZTE's senior director of mobile devices, during an interview at the MWC, said the targeted growth of around 60 million units would mark a 7 percent spike in smartphone sales and 70 million units would record around 20 percent growth compared to last year.

ZTE also announced a new sports marketing partnership with Spanish football club Sevilla. The Chinese multinational already has partnerships with several sports in place, which has driven its brand recognition in the US and turned it into the fourth-largest smartphone vendor in the country. The company sponsors professional basketball teams, including Golden State Warrors, Cleveland Cavaliers, Chicago Bulls and Houston Rockets, and pro golfer Danny Lee.

The two new ZTE smartphones — the Blade V7 and the Blade V7 Lite — bring premium features at an effective price. The Blade V7 has a full-metal body and a 5.2-inch Full HD display with 2.5D architecture for comfortable single-handed use. The handset sports a 13MP primary camera with dual-tone LED flash and a 5MP front-snapper with screen flash.

Blade V7 is powered by a 1.3GHz MediaTek MT6753 octa-core processor, 2GB RAM, a 2,500mAh battery and 16GB expandable storage. Instead of going with the trend of fingerprint scanner for security, ZTE has incorporated the retinal eye-scan feature and supports Smart Sense gesture controls.

As for the Blade V7 Lite, the handset is slightly smaller, measuring 5 inches diagonally with lowered 720p resolution screen and 2.5D glass. Like the Blade V7, the Lite variant also has an aluminium unibody and a 2,500mAh battery. The handset has 8MP front and rear cameras with LED flash, and is powered by a 1.3GHz MediaTek MTK6735P quad-core CPU, 2GB RAM and 16GB expandable storage. The Blade V7 Lite retains the industry-standard fingerprint scanning security feature.

Both phones run Android 6.0 Marshmallow and support 4G LTE speeds.

The company did not reveal the pricing but Lam told Reuters the Blade V7 would cost around €250 ($277.95 or Rs 18,929). The Blade V7 will be available in Germany, Spain, South Africa, Ethiopia, and Mexico in mid-2016 while the Blade V7 Lite will go on sale Russia, Mexico, Spain, Germany, and Thailand in spring.