China Economy: News & Discussion

[DaTang]

Re: China India Trade 2012

Mumbai consumer hates Chinese Goods' Guts

they just hate it, no one of them ever paid a penny to buy anything from China

No one shows any interests, but many locals showed up to protest.

even the organizer sponsored reception session is an empty room.

they looked away from Chinese product

not a ghost in bathroom product display

 

[DaTang]

Re: China India Trade 2012

To make things worse, Indian Department of Commerce will like to push an Increase to 100 bn dollars.

India, China trade expected to touch $100 bn by 2015

Ministry of Commerce and Industry Tripathy hopes the issue of New Delhi's widening trade deficit with Beijing will be addressed
Press Trust of India / New Delhi Oct 26, 2012, 16:02 IST

He said both nations should strive to attain a sustainable balanced trade, which is currently in favour of China.
Tripathy was speaking at the inauguration of the "India Show" in Beijing, where more than 80 Indian automobile companies are participating.
India today exuded confidence of achieving the $100-billion bilateral trade target set with China by 2015 and hoped the issue of New Delhi's widening trade deficit with Beijing will be addressed.

"The target of $100-billion bilateral trade would not be difficult to achieve by 2015," Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry Asit Tripathy said.

The exhibition is being organised by CII in association with Ministry of Commerce and Industry and Indian Embassy in Beijing at the China International Auto parts Expo, which is in progress, CII said in a statement.

Besides, CII has sent a 19-member business delegation to China to discuss ways to strengthen trade and investment ties between the two countries.

In 2011-12, the bilateral trade between the two countries stood at $75.45 billion. While India's exports were at $17.90 billion, imports stood at $57.55 billion. Thus, the trade deficit between the two nations stood at $39.65 billion in favour of China.

Indian Ambassador to China, S Jaishankar, said the economic cooperation between India and China in the last decade has been a remarkable story.

"While this is heartening, it has posed its own challenges in terms of a trade deficit, which is difficult to sustain or to defend. Market access for Indian companies (in China) is a major concern," he said.

Also, he said, a number of Chinese auto manufacturers are contemplating projects in India.

CII President Designate S Gopalakrishnan said Indian companies, operating in areas like manufacturing and IT, are also investing in China.

He added that more than 200 Indian companies are currently present in China. These companies apart from tapping the domestic market have been using China as their base to produce for other markets.

 

[Kunal Biswas]

trade economy post here..

 

[cir]

China's CCTV （prime time）advertising sales hit 19-year high at $2.5 billion

Mon Nov 19, 2012 3:43am GMT

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China's state television said it sold 15.8 billion yuan ($2.5 billion) of advertising spots for next year, the most in 19 years and up nearly 11 percent from a year earlier, amid expectations that the economy would quicken its recovery in 2013.

China Central Television's (CCTV) annual advertising auction is seen as a barometer for the domestic economy, with ad spending rising by about one-and-a-half times gross domestic product growth in each of the past several years.

The auction, which took place in Beijing on Sunday, lasted about 12 hours and netted gains that were 10.7 percent higher than the previous year.

Local media reported that Chinese consumer companies such as China Huiyuan Juice spent over 339 million yuan to sponsor a popular talent show while herbal tea-maker Jia Duobao spent 200 million yuan to sponsor another talent show. Gome Electrical Appliances Holdings spent more than 200 million yuan for two months of advertising.

In recent years, online video companies like Youku Tudou Inc and iQiyi.com, which is owned by Baidu Inc, have started competing with CCTV for advertising dollars given their reach to a younger and wealthier audience.

CCTV typically attracts an older demographic.

China's economy showed further signs of recovery from its slowest growth in three years as data for October showed infrastructure investment accelerating and output from the country's factories running at its fastest in five months.

($1 = 6.2356 Chinese yuan)

China's CCTV advertising sales hit 19-year high at $2.5 billion | Reuters

 

[cir]

Deep sea's center construction to start before May

Updated: 2012-11-19 16:05

By Wang Qian (chinadaily.com.cn)

Construction of the National Deep Sea Center is expected to start before May in Qingdao, Shandong province, with an investment of nearly 500 million yuan ($80 million), according to a statement released on the website of the State Oceanic Administration on Saturday.

Construction of the 26-hectare center is expected to last up to three years.

The center will include five quay berths, a maintenance workshop, a communications center and a training center.

"The design plan has been sent to the National Development and Reform Commission and is expected to be approved this year," Liu Feng, director of the center said.

The center will serve as the country's main scientific and research platform for deep-sea equipment and will be the new home for the Jiaolong, China's manned submersible, which recently reached a record depth of 7,062 meters.

Deep sea's center construction to start before May|Science-Tech|chinadaily.com.cn

 

[cir]

19 Nov, 2012, 03.56PM IST

'China to emerge world's largest N-power generator by 2020'

MELBOURNE: China is set to emerge world's largest nuclear power generator by end of 2020 even though it will continue to rely on coal to generate bulk of its electricity needs, a Rio Tinto executive has said.

"By the end of the decade, the emerging economic superpower was expected to leap to the number two position (in power generation), before overtaking the United States in the 2020s, producing 100 gigawatts of power," said Rio Tinto Energy general manager (markets and Industry analysis) Stephen Wilson.

"Their (China) vision is to produce 400 gigawatts of nuclear power by 2050. That's been publicly stated by Chinese officials," Wilson was quoted as saying by Australian Associated Press (AAP).

"That's more than the whole world has got today," he said.

However, he said both India and China would continue to rely heavily on coal for the bulk of their electricity needs and to keep up with growing demand.

He said the growth in nuclear energy in China would come from new third generation power plants that produced electricity more cheaply than coal and gas plants in coastal China.

"What we are looking at in China now is a situation where it is the very early stages of a very, very significant nuclear build programme," Wilson said.

"This is a quiet revolution." he said. Wilson said meeting the rising energy demand of billions of people would require both improvements in energy efficiency and ways to find new resources.

'China to emerge world's largest N-power generator by 2020' - The Economic Times

 

[cir]

Set to open before the end of 2014 and nicknamed the "New Silk Road"ï¼Œthe 1776km Lan-Xing HSR is making solid progress in the gobi desert:

A freight train running on the existing tracks linking Lanzhou，capital of Gansu province，and Wulumuqi，capital of Xinjiang Autonomous Region，passes by the new HSR under construction

Workers use quilts and other materials to insulate newly built ballastless tracks from the freezing weather

A worker tests track concrete strength

Newly laid ballastless track bed slabs stretch all the way from Zhangye to Hongliuhe

Technicians measure ballastless tracks

 

[cir]

48000-ton practice teaching vessel for Shanghai Maritime University on its 7-day trial voyage：

:cool2:

 

[cir]

GDP growth will soon be back north of 8%.

China manufacturing grows in Nov

Updated: 18:42, Thursday November 22, 2012

China's manufacturing activity grew in November for the first time in 13 months, HSBC says, in a further sign of strength in the world's second-largest economy after a marked slowdown.

The preliminary purchasing managers' index (PMI) released by the British banking giant hit 50.4 this month, up from a final 49.5 in October, after 12 consecutive months in negative territory.

A reading above 50 indicates growth in the key sector, while one below signals contraction.

The index, compiled by information services provider Markit and released by HSBC, tracks manufacturing activity and is a closely watched barometer of the health of the economy.

November's figure was the first time since October 2011 that the indicator showed expansion and suggested a revving up in China's economy, where growth has slowed for seven straight quarters.

It comes after China's official purchasing managers' index rose, announced earlier this month, rose to 50.2 in October from 49.8 in September for the first expansion in three months.

'This confirms that the economic recovery continues to gain momentum towards the year end,' Qu Hongbin, HSBC's chief economist for China, said in the bank's release announcing the figure.

'However, it is still the early stage of recovery and global economic growth remains fragile. This calls for a continuation of policy easing to strengthen the recovery.'

China's economic growth hit a more than three-year low of 7.4 per cent in the three months to September, but recent data has fuelled optimism that the worst is over.

Exports, industrial production, retail sales and fixed asset investment - a key gauge of infrastructure spending - have all shown improvement.

The rosier outlook comes as China concluded an overhaul of the Communist Party's top leadership last week.

HSBC said it would release its final November PMI data on December 3. China's official PMI for November comes out on December 1.

Sky News: China manufacturing grows in Nov

 

[cir]

China spends big to build libraries for all villages

Updated: 2012-11-22 13:36

BEIJING - Since 2007, China has spent a massive amount of money to ensure that all villages have access to libraries with well-selected books, newspapers and audiovisual products for people in rural areas.

The Ministry of Finance (MOF) said Wednesday in a statement posted on its website that it has appropriated a total of 5.9 billion yuan ($937.99 million) to subsidize the construction of such rural libraries.

In 2012 alone, the MOF earmarked 1.2 billion yuan for subsidizing rural libraries in a bid to put an end to the project of building libraries for all administrative villages in China, according to the statement.

The project is one of the nation's key cultural programs to bring tangible benefits to people living in rural areas, the statement said.

China kicked off the project to build libraries in rural areas nationwide in early 2007, aiming to cover all villages by the end of 2015, according to the State Press and Publication Administration.

However, the country announced in late September that it had completed the project by the end of August, and a total investment of 18 billion yuan has resulted in the construction of 600,449 rural libraries.

Each library owns at least 1,500 books, 30 different newspapers and 100 audiovisual products that meet the needs of people living in rural areas.

China spends big to build libraries for all villages |Industries |chinadaily.com.cn

 

[cir]

Shell vows $1b annual China investment

Updated: 2012-11-21 08:08

By Du Juan ( China Daily)

Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Europe's largest oil company, said it will invest around $1 billion annually in its upstream businesses in China, a move based on the country's surging natural gas consumption.

"There is huge potential to come in terms of the natural gas market in China," Peter Voser, the company's chief executive officer, said on Tuesday in Beijing.

He said the company's investment scale will change depending on how successful its current projects are in the following years, as unconventional gas exploration is a "very complicated process" that takes longer time than conventional gas exploration.

Cooperating with China National Petroleum Corp, Shell has two gas blocks, Jinqiu and Fushun-Yongchuan, in Sichuan province, an area rich in gas reserves.

The company has drilled 13 out of 21 planned wells in Jinqiu, a project with a daily output of 110,000 cubic meters. It will complete the 21 wells by April 2013, the company said.

In the Fushun-Yongchuan Block, the company is assessing whether its commercial development is a viable prospect.

The block's 15-well drilling program is due to start by the end of 2012 or early next year.

Last week, Shell announced that it will invest more than $20 billion globally in natural gas projects through 2015 as profits from extracting, processing and selling the fuel increase.

Voser said the company's integrated-gas earnings have more than tripled in the past five years, reaching $9 billion in 2011, and its $20 billion investment will bring more opportunities. China's natural gas output has entered a period of soaring growth driven by growing demand in the nation, Yu Baocai, deputy general manager of CNPC, said last week at a conference in Shanghai.

He estimated that China's natural gas output will reach 200 billion cu m before 2020.

Its natural gas consumption is expected to reach around 148 billion cu m in 2012, up 13 percent year-on-year.

China's natural gas imports for 2012 are due to reach 42.59 billion cu m, a growth rate of 35.69 percent year-on-year, according to statistics from energy information consultancy ICIS C1 Energy.

China's liquid natural gas output and consumption are growing rapidly, said Huang Qing, a senior analyst at C1 Energy.

"The average annual growth rate of LNG production in China from 2013 to 2015 will reach 48 percent," she said.

Shell expects its annual LNG output to increase by 30 percent to around 29 million metric tons once it completes projects in Australia, the company said.

Voser said the company will focus more on LNG demand in China's transportation market.

Transportation is due to account for around 25 percent of China's LNG consumption in 2012, said C1 Energy.

Shell vows $1b annual China investment |Business |chinadaily.com.cn

 

[chicombot]

Indian, Chinese firms forge partnerships worth $5.3b

http://www.mydigitalfc.com/news/indian-chinese-firms-forge-partnerships-worth-53b-696

By Yogima Seth Sharma Nov 26 2012 , New Delhi
Tags: News
Indian and Chinese companies have come a step closer by forging fresh partnerships. Companies like Anil Dhirubhai Ambani group's (Adag) Reliance Energy, Hyderabad-based Lanco and NIIT, apart from others, have signed deals worth $5.3 billion on Monday across sectors like energy, information technology, steel and railways.

Reliance Energy has enlisted China's Guangdong Mingyang Wind Power as a joint venture partner to set up 2,500 mw renewable energy project with an investment of $3 billion. China Development Bank (CDB) will finance the new renewable energy project.

Reliance Energy's largest foray into new energy projects has come at a time when large power players are facing problem of coal linkages, tariff-related issues and acquisition of land for conventional power projects, apart from environment and forest clearances. Reliance Energy is also facing serious issues with development of many ultra-mega power projects that it has signed up.

Along with Tata group chairman Ratan Tata, Adag chairman Anil Ambani have been pushing with the prime minister's office (PMO) seeking concessions on coal pricing, land acquisition and environment clearances expeditiously.

The foray into wind power would enable Reliance Energy to diversify into sustainable and green energy sector in a big way.

Similarly, Lanco, headed by Lagadapati Rajagopal, has signed an agreement with China Development Bank (CDB) for $600 million for phase-two of the Anpara power project.

Both, Reliance Energy and Lanco group are sourcing their electrical equipment like generators and boilers from Chinese suppliers.

On Monday, NIIT too entered into $800 million deal with Hainan province to set up an IT knowledge park there.

Indian companies announced the mega deals with their Chinese counterparts and bankers during the visit of China's plan panel, National Development and Reforms Commission (NDRC) chief Zhang Ping. Ping began his economic dialogue with his Indian counterpart Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Monday.

Both India and China also agreed to develop high-speed trains, station development and heavy haulage as part of the second bilateral strategic economic dialogue.

Besides, the two countries on Monday also signed seven agreements valued at $5.3 billion across energy, IT, electronics and steel and four memorandums of understanding (MoUs) to help increase bilateral trade to $100 billion from $74 billion in two years.

Indian railways have already approved six high-speed rail corridors in sectors like Delhi-Chandigarh-Amritsar (450 km), Pune-Mumbai-Ahmedabad (650 km), Hyderabad-Dornakal-Vijaywada-Chennai (664 km), Chennai-Bangalore-Coimbatore-Ernakulam (649 km), Howrah-Haldia (135 km), and Delhi-Agra-Lucknow-Varanasi-Patna (991 km).

Under the 12th Plan, Indian Railways plans to get major upgradation with help of heavy-haul freight trains of 15,000 tonnes capacity and 1500 metres length. Though China is a relatively new entrant in the bullet trains space, it is more competitive than either Japan or France.

"Indian railways have entered into an MoU with their Chinese counterpart on enhancing technical cooperation in the railway sector. These include high-speed trains, modernisation of railway stations and technology related to heavy haulage," Montek Singh Ahluwalia, deputy chairman of the planning commission said.

The planning commission has entered into an agreement with the Chinese plan body, NDRC, to undertake joint studies in economic policy research and development planning. Besides, there were MoUs singed to encourage cooperation between India's bureau of energy efficiency and NDRC.

 

[cinoti]

China, U.S. factory data improves, global risks remain

..NEW YORK (Reuters) - China's vast manufacturing sector grew in early December and U.S. factories were having their best month since April, surveys showed on Friday, adding to hopes that the world's top two economies were on the mend.

Solid growth from the United States and China will be crucial to reviving the world economy in 2013, particularly with the euro zone likely sliding deeper into recession.

A possible budget crisis in the United States at year-end tempered investor optimism, however, and added a big dose of uncertainty to the economic outlook for the year ahead.

Investors and economists fear the United States could fall back into recession if lawmakers can't strike a deal to avert the "fiscal cliff" and allow some $600 billion in automatic tax hikes and spending cuts to take effect in 2013.

That's a grim prospect for global growth, particularly since the 17-country euro zone is already in recession. While an index of euro zone manufacturing and service sector activity rose to a nine-month high this month, it still showed contraction in both areas. That's consistent with the economy shrinking by 0.5 percent in the fourth quarter.

The news was better in Asia. The HSBC flash PMI showed China's manufacturing sector expanded in December at its fastest pace in 14 months as new orders and employment rose, adding to evidence of a pick-up in the economy that helped lift sentiment.

The data was "a further sign that the Chinese economy is already starting to recover," said Nikolaus Keis at UniCredit.

In the United States, financial information firm Markit said its manufacturing index showed the sector grew at its quickest pace in eight months as demand from domestic and foreign customers increased.

Separate data showed factory output posting its sharpest increase in nearly a year in November as auto production rebounded.

Stronger manufacturing should help bolster a U.S. economy that has seen slow but steady improvement in employment and consumer spending and signs of life in the housing market.

"People are always hoping for good news from the United States and China, as both economies are the main drivers of global economic activity," said Tom Porcelli, chief U.S. economist at RBC Capital Markets.

However, he said a more closely watched gauge of U.S. factory activity published earlier this month by the Institute of Supply Management showed the sector shrank in November, making it premature to conclude manufacturing was improving.

Uncertainty about the fiscal cliff also hurt sentiment, and not just because lawmakers are seen as increasingly unlikely to strike a deal by year-end.

More troubling, said Lena Komileva, chief economist at G+ Economics in London, is that there is no sign Congress is ready to draft a long-term deal to reduce the U.S. deficit, which was set to exceed $1 trillion in 2012 for the fourth straight year.

If lawmakers move from "short-term compromise to short-term compromise," she said that raises "the possibility of a series of fiscal cliffs in which harder compromises are left to future negotiations, and we'll see recurring damage to economic confidence."

EURO ZONE IMPROVES SLIGHTLY

Earlier on Friday, composite PMI data from Germany, Europe's largest economy, showed its private sector bounced back to growth for the first time in eight months in December.

In France, the downturn eased but the PMI held below 50 for the 10th straight month, indicating contraction.

But the regional euro zone PMI has been below the 50 mark for all but one of the past 16 months.

The PMI for the euro zone's dominant service sector continued to shrink this month, though at a slightly slower pace, as firms cut prices even as costs rose, taking a hit on their profit margins for a ninth straight month.

Manufacturers, who led the bloc out of the last recession, fared little better. The factory PMI crept up to 46.3 from 46.2.

But in a sign the global economy might be improving, the rate of decline in new export orders from factories eased, with the sub-index at a nine-month high of 46.8.

"There are some rays of hope here. It is moving in the right direction so there are signs that the business cycle has reached a low point globally and is picking up," said Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit.

The euro zone economy contracted 0.2 percent in the second quarter and 0.1 percent in the third, meeting the technical definition of a recession and a Reuters poll last week predicted a 0.3 percent contraction in the current period.

That would be slightly better than the PMIs published on Friday suggest.

(Editing by Jeremy Gaunt, Clive McKeef and James Dalgleish)

...

 

[cir]

HSBC chief economist says China increasingly leading world economy

Xinhua | 2012-12-21 9:40:11

By Agencies

HSBC Bank chief economist Stephen King said the world is moving away from an "old world" dominated by Europe, the US and Japan, and to a "new world" led by China.

King said the world economy is increasingly led by China, and countries raising their exposure to China have outperformed those with low exposure to China, in his latest report "The Great Rotation" obtained by Xinhua on Thursday.

"China's impact on the rest of the world in recent years has been revolutionary. No longer is it possible to understand the behavior of the global economy without acknowledging the gravitational pull of China," he said.

The "new world" has dominated the global economy over the last decade, which led to re-acceleration of global growth, while contributions to global growth from the "old world" have shrivelled.

"A stronger China connection pays dividends." King said, noting that countries like the Democratic People's Republicof Korea, Malaysia and Singapore which significantly increased their export exposure to China in the last 10 years, had enjoyed a better-off growth, while the US, Germany, Britain had low export-to-China per GDP ratios.

King said China managed to shrug off external difficulties mainly caused by "old world" weakness in 2012, with more domestic infrastructure spending.

He expected China's GDP to grow at 8.6 percent in 2013.

"Even if the Chinese economy is slowing, its impact on the global economy is paradoxically rising," he noted.

The report also said the US would reach some kind of constructive conclusion in the fiscal cliff talks, preventing the country from economic collapse at the beginning of 2013.

HSBC chief economist says China increasingly leading world economy - Globaltimes.cn

 

[cinoti]

I hate this, I really don't like comparing the two countries, but this is copied and pasted from NY times, I am a chini so I copy, hahahaha, anyways, maybe the chart is still kind of appropriate to summarize 2012.
I don't know we are by average 9000 dollars per capita, must be a PPP value. Nominal GDP is around $ 6100.

 

[satish007]

Huawei unveils annual bonus: 12.5 billion yuan in all - Business News - SINA English
Huawei unveils annual bonus: 12.5 billion yuan($1.5b) in all

Huawei, the second largest networking and telecommunications equipment and services provider, recently announced the assessment of its 2012 operating performance and dividends.

Meng Wanzhou, the CFO of Huawei, said Huawei's staffs would receive 12.5 billion yuan in total as annual bonus. It is also a huge proportion of Huawei's annual net profit of last year, which saw a 33% rise, up to 15.4 billion yuan.

Some high-level managers of Huawei have given up their annual bonus voluntarily, reports said. Huawei has roughly 150 thousand employees around the world, so each employee would possibly get 83 thousand ($1,000) yuan on average.

But sources from Huawei said the amount of money would fluctuate remarkably from person to person, depending on, say, contribution.

"Most of Huawei's annual bonus were usually taken by managers ranking 3-level or higher," another source from Huawei said."

It takes at least 5 years to accumulate some amount of shares, which is essential to improve income," he added. Around 64 thousand employees of Huawei hold shares.

Meng Wanzhou also said the sales revenue of Huawei in 2012 increased 8% up to 220.2 billion yuan, 66% of which from overseas.


a crap company makes money.

 

[K Factor]

Buildings in China collapse into huge hole

 

[cir]

Splendid news。Chinese high-tech firms firing on all barrels:thumb:

Lenovo Q3 profit hits record $205M, China smartphone biz profitable

By Jamie Yap | January 30, 2013 -- 11:40 GMT (03:40 PST)

Follow @Jamieyzdnetasia
Chinese PC giant Lenovo said its third quarter ended December 31, 2012, was its best ever, with record numbers for both sales and profit at US$9.4 billion and US$205 million, respectively.

The company said in a statement Wednesday the US$9.4 billion in revenue was a 12 percent increase from the year before, while third-quarter profit leaped 34 percent year on year to reach US$205 million.

Gross profit for the third quarter increased 15 percent year on year to US$1.1 billion, while operating profit climbed 26 percent to US$243 million.


Lenovo's Q3 profit jumped 34 percent year on year to reach US$205 million.

(Credit: Lenovo)

The company said it has been the fastest-growing PC company for 13 consecutive quarters. In its "best quarter ever," it continued to outgrow the market in all geographies with record sales, pre-tax income, and earnings, becoming the world's leading PC maker and emerging global leader in "PC Plus" devices, such as smartphones, tablets, and smart TVs, it said.

In China, Lenovo saw US$4.1 billion in consolidated sales in the third fiscal quarter, an increase of 17 percent year on year. Domestic sales was also the biggest contributor to overall sales with 43 percent.

In Asia-Pacific and Latin America, consolidated sales was US$1.7 billion, constituting 18 percent of total worldwide sales.

China smartphone biz turns profitable

The stellar performance was attributed to its "Protect and Attack" strategy, which was introduced four years ago. It refers to protecting the two profitable areas--global commercial PC and China businesses--while attacking the three high-growth opportunities, which are emerging markets, global consumer products, and PC Plus products.

The "Attack" businesses contributed half of the company's revenues, compared to 32 percent when the strategy was first launched.

Lenovo added that its smartphone business in China was profitable for the first time.

"With the strong execution of our 'Protect and Attack' strategy, Lenovo has not only achieved record revenue, profit, and global PC market share last quarter, but also our smartphone and tablet businesses have delivered hyper growth. Even more, our worldwide tablet and China smartphone businesses have become profitable," said Yang Yuanqing, chairman and CEO, Lenovo Group, in the statement.

"As we continue into the PC Plus era, Lenovo has already laid a solid foundation. Our new organization will provide the structure to elevate our diversified business and drive it to the next level. We are confident that we can win through differentiation and will be the innovation leader in the PC Plus era."

At the start of this year, Lenovo restructured the company into two groups--the Lenovo Business Group and Think Business Group--in a bid to target mainstream and high-end segments.

In its statement, Lenovo said it is twice as large today and more diverse than when it had its previous structure. "Today the company has built strong consumer, mobile, and emerging markets businesses globally, so the change was proactively initiated to drive continued performance across all of these businesses, stay ahead of consumer demands, while driving speed, agility, and innovation," it said.

 

[cir]

China's ZTE to ship more high-end smartphones in 2013

Jan 30, 2013

China's ZTE Corp, the world's fourth-biggest handset maker, plans to ship more high-end smartphones this year to help increase profit margins and revenue, a senior company executive said on Wednesday.

ZTE expects to ship more than 50 million smartphones in 2013, exceeding its earlier forecast, and sees smartphones making up 70 percent of overall consumer device sales this year, Lv Qianhao, head of ZTE's handset strategy, told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of a company event.

ZTE has gained considerable market share in the mobile phone sector, but its margins have been pressured as it sold more affordable phones. These narrow margins, along with project delays in its telecom equipment business, prompted the company last week to flag a net loss of up to 2.9 billion yuan ($467 million) for 2012.

"We would like to raise the percentage of mid- to high-range smartphones. That's the direction we're heading," Lv said as he showed off the Grand S and Grand Era smartphones, and the Grand Memo phone-tablet hybrid, also referred to as a "phablet".


A ZTE Grand X LTE 4G smartphone. Reuters
ZTE aims to increase its smartphone revenues by around 40 percent this year from last year, Lv said, in a bid to boost margins in the highly competitive sector that Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and Apple Inc dominate.

ZTE has also hired a new global chief design director, Hagen Fendler, a German who used to work at Huawei Technologies Co Ltd as its chief design director for handsets.

ZTE shipped 35 million smartphones last year, and smartphones made up 60 percent of its overall consumer device sales in 2012.

ZTE's tablet sales, however, missed its target due to competition from Apple and Samsung products, Lv said. ZTE shipped 560,000 tablet PCs last year, short of its goal of more than doubling sales to 1 million, he said, declining to give an estimate for this year.

 

[cir]

2nd largest telecom infrastructure maker and 3rd device manufacturer.:thumb:


China's Huawei becomes world's 3rd largest smartphones vendor

China Daily/Asia News Network

January 30, 2013, 12:01 am TWNSHARECLOSE

BEIJING -- Chinese telecom giant Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. emerged as the world's third-largest smartphone vendor in the fourth quarter of 2012, as traditional mobile phone manufacturers like Nokia Corp. and HTC Corp. tumbled.

The Shenzhen-based Huawei climbed for the first time to the top five list, according to a report issued by International Data Corp.

Huawei shipped 10.8 million smartphones, which represents a 4.9-percent market share, in the fourth quarter, only behind Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and Apple Inc., the report said.

Samsung grabbed a dominant 29-percent share of the world's smartphone market during the period, while Apple had a 21.8-percent market share with 47.8 million smartphones shipped, the report said.

Taiwan-based smartphone vendor HTC dropped from the top five, the IDC ranking showed. Analysts pointed out that the company lost market share in the North American market after it was involved in a lawsuit with Apple last year.