ZTE enters Philippine smartphone market, targets 5% share

MANILA, Philippines — Tech giant ZTE Corp. has found its way back into the Philippines, entering the smartphone market this time as it targets at least a five percent share by 2024.

In an interview with reporters, ZTE CEO of devices for South and East Asia Justin Li said the Chinese phone maker hopes to expand its presence in the smartphone market in the Philippines in the next two years.

ZTE introduced an initial four models in the Philippines, with prices ranging from P7,999 for its entry-level ZTE V40 Design, to P53,999 for the gaming-centric RedMagic 8 Pro.

“We initiated our plan by the end of last year. Our target is that by the end of this year we would just cover one to three percent and in the next year we will finish at five percent,” Li said.

ZTE Philippines general manager for terminals Gavin Zhaojun added that the Shenzhen-based firm expects Filipinos to buy their phones when they become available in the market as the company believes that despite stiff competition, there will always be space for the kind of handsets that ZTE produces.

“The Philippine smartphone market is very huge. We are currently in the top five in Chinese brands. I think for ZTE we have good technology and systems for our devices,” Zhaojun said.

ZTE Philippines maintains a portfolio of more than 3,000 full turn-key sites in the country, as well as over 8,000 kilometers of fiber and at least 4,000 base transceiver stations.

The company works with the three telco providers – Smart Communications Inc., Globe Telecom Inc. and Dito Telecommunity Corp. – in broadening its reach in the Philippine market.

ZTE said the Philippines has one of the largest potentials in Southeast Asia for growth in the smartphone segment in spite of its recent decline in shipments.

According to the International Data Corp. (IDC), smartphone shipments in the Philippines declined by nine percent to 16.3 million units in 2022, from 17.83 million units in 2021. IDC Philippines senior market analyst Angela Medez said consumer and vendor confidence declined last year as the economy suffered from rising inflation.

Broken down, realme maintained its position as the leader in the smartphone market in the country with a market share of 22.8 percent, followed by Transsion’s 17.9 percent and Oppo’s 14.1 percent. Samsung came in fourth with 13.5 percent, while Xiaomi landed fifth with 11.4 percent.

ZTE had to leave the Philippine market for more than a decade after it got involved in a $329-million anomaly through an agreement with the government.

In 2007, ZTE got entangled in the National Broadband Network deal – a project that seeks to put up telco infrastructure nationwide to link government offices – that was overpriced by $130 million due to kickbacks to be paid to various public officials.