ZTE cashes in on data card boom

Chinese vendor ZTE announced Tuesday that sales of its data card for the first half of 2009 increased by 366 per cent year on year to more than seven million.

The firm claimed that it took second position globally for 2008, selling more than ten million units, representing a 426 per cent improvement on 2007. It now believes it can win 30 per cent of the global market for data cards in 2009.

ZTE revealed that 40 per cent of its data card revenues for the first half of this year were generated in developed markets in North America, Europe and Japan. Germany’s T-Mobile, Japanese carrier Willcom, Telenor of Norway and Greek carrier Cosmote have all been big customer wins, the vendor said, for its USB modem and data card products.

“In addition to strong partnerships and a wide range of cooperation with the three major operators in China, we have successfully established partnerships with leading international operators,” said Zhang Yadong, General Manager of Data Card product lines, ZTE Corporation. “With a growing global customer base, including in Europe, North America and Japan, international sales have contributed substantially to ZTE’s strong Data Card sales in the first half of the year.”