ZTE aims to sell 12 million smartphones in 2011

Chinese hardware manufacturer ZTE has announced ambitious plans to break into the top tier of smartphone and tablet makers in the US, Europe and Latin America, aiming to sell 12 million devices in 2011 alone.

The firm said on Tuesday that it hopes to become one of the top three tablet providers and top five global Android handset makers this year, as well as becoming number one in China.

ZTE increased year-on-year ‘terminal' shipment volumes and sales revenue by nearly 50 per cent in the first quarter of 2011, as the company tries to transform from a product-driven to a brand-driven organisation.

The firm is planning to establish a cloud computing and a ‘smart terminal' team which will focus on R&D, with the emphasis on high-end products for personal, home and office use.

ZTE is certainly right to see a huge potential for growth in the Android smartphone and tablet markets.

Gartner research earlier this month predicted that smartphones will continue to break into the mainstream, and are expected to hit the one billion sales mark in 2015. Around 48 per cent of these devices will run Android, the research suggested.

Meanwhile, Gartner had to revise its estimate for tablet spending globally from £6bn to £18.3bn in 2011, with the market set to increase annually by around 52 per cent.

ZTE has also said it will support the Windows Phone 7 platform, but these handsets are unlikely to ship until 2012 as the company seeks to capitalise on the greater demand for Android devices.

However, V3.co.uk has had mixed impressions of the ZTE smartphones it has reviewed so far, giving the Racer an average 3/5 stars, while the Orange-branded San Francisco fared better with an impressive 4/5.

V3.co.uk also noticed a few design flaws with the ZTE Skate when we got our hands on the device recently.