Related S Market Wrap For February 12: Markets Take a Breather, Senate Passes Debt Limit Bill Morgan Stanley Sees Challenging Path to Recovery for Sprint Corporation Chinese mobile phone maker ZTE (OTC: ZTCOY) is not exactly a household name –- yet. If the fourth biggest phone vendor in the world gets its way, however, it will be – eventually.
CNET said it expects to see ZTE focus on premium quality smartphones at the Mobile World Congress at the end of February this year. This would be a departure from the company's previous concentration on mid-range priced phones offered by smaller carriers like Cricket Wireless, U.S. Cellular, (NYSE: USM) and Aio Wireless.
Already, ZTE devices are available from Sprint (NYSE: S), T-Mobile (NYSE: TMUS) and Boost Mobile. Although many ZTE phones currently available in the U.S. are entry-level, there are signs that is about to change. Pre-paid carrier Boost Mobile, for example, offers the ZTE Boost Max "Phablet" -- which features 4G LTE, an 8-megapixel camera, and a 5.7-inch screen.
Related: New Study Finds $47 Billion Worth Of Cell Phones Gathering Dust
Two years ago, ZTE said it planned to invest $30 million on brand awareness in the U.S. The company hired Hagen Fendler as its global chief design director, and began immediately working on high-end phones.
That move resulted in both the Grand S and Nubia 5 smartphones. Unfortunately, both phones are 3G and neither found a major U.S. carrier home. Both were sold unlocked on Amazon with limited success.
In January, ZTE unveiled the Grand S II, Nubia 5S, and 5S Mini at the CES in Las Vegas. The Grand S II comes with a Snapdragon 800 processor, 13 MP camera, and Android 4.3, making it a true top-end marquee phone.
With a market share target of 10 percent in the U.S. by 2017, ZTE clearly has its sights set on the United States.
Although government concerns about security, as related to Chinese electronics, have kept companies like ZTE from gaining a toe-hold in the U.S., the company has a plan -- including a deal recently signed with the Houston Rockets to release a Rockets-branded phone, according to Reuters.
"We want young U.S. consumers to participate in our marketing activities," ZTE global marketing director of mobile devices, Lv Qianhao said, "so we will have more NBA (National Basketball Association) stores and channels that sell our products."
Senior Vice President Zhang Renjun added, "We see more business opportunities after the (Edward) Snowden incident, as there's an increasing worry about the security of U.S. products and more people will use Chinese products."
Meanwhile, as smartphone sales in China continued to fall, expect companies like ZTE to ramp up sales opportunities in the U.S.
At the time of this writing, Jim Probasco had no position in any mentioned securities.
Posted-In: 5S Mini Aio Wireless Amazon Android Boost Max Boost Mobile CES China Cricket Wireless Edward Snowden Grand S Grand S II Hagen Fendler Houston Rockets Las Vegas Lv Qianhao Mobile World Congress National Basketball Association NBA Nubia 5 Nubia 5S phablet smartphones Snapdragon 800 Sprint T-Mobile telecommunications U.S. Cellular United States Zhang Renjun ZTENews Emerging Markets Events Global Markets Tech Media Best of Benzinga
(c) 2014 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Most Popular New Study Finds $47 Billion Worth Of Cell Phones Gathering Dust Chelsea Notes 'Abnormal Trading Activity' Surrounding Today's PDUFA Action Ford And General Motors Offer Staggering Discount on Full-Size Trucks Occidental Petroleum Announces Sale of Hugoton Field Assets As Part of Company's Strategic Review; Price of Sale at $1.4B Five Star Stock Watch: Canadian Solar Google And VMware Just Ganged Up On Microsoft Related Articles (S + TMUS) China's ZTE: A Name to Watch Market Wrap For February 12: Markets Take a Breather, Senate Passes Debt Limit Bill Morgan Stanley Sees Challenging Path to Recovery for Sprint Corporation Benzinga's Top Upgrades #PreMarket Primer: Wednesday, February 12: The Market Likes Yellen Market Wrap For February 11: Yellen Re-assures Markets & Wakes Up The Sleeping Bulls Around the Web, We're Loving... Create an Account With Options House and Get 150 Free Trades! Pope Francis Rips 'Trickle-Down' Economics Wynn, MGM, Other Casino Giants Vying For U.S. Turf What Should You Know About AMZN? View the discussion thread.
AP/Jae C. Hong For all the talk about drones replacing parcel carriers or self-driving cars disrupting the taxi industry, there's a bigger tech revolution happening in the restaurant industry right now that may displace workers far sooner than anything futurists foresee in those other industries. The arrival of tablets and smartphone apps that detail menu items, take orders, and let you settle up your tab at the en of the meal will be a big theme among casual dining chains and even a few independent foodie haunts this year. Brinker International's (EAT) Chili's, DineEquity's (DIN) Applebee's, and a handful of San Francisco fine dining establishments are leading the push to add the technology, which will make waiters and waitresses less necessary. None of the chains have said that these tech initiatives will lead them to reduce waitstaff headcount -- but it doesn't take a lot of foresight to connect the dots. If folks are using table-side tablets to place orders and ask for drink refills, or firing up a smartphone app to pay at the end of a meal, that naturally translates into fewer front-of-house employees needed to keep an eatery going. Order Up In fact, some industry leaders outright deny that mobile tech will displace staff. "This really isn't a labor play," DineEquity CEO Julia Stewart said on CNBC late last year, explaining Applebee's move to deploy 100,000 tablets this year -- one at every table. "It's not about saving labor. This is really about creating an opportunity to talk to our guest, have an interactive conversation with our guest, and give our guest a lot more opportunities." At first, a waitstaff will be instrumental in assisting customers as they use the tablets to place orders or pay their bills. There will also be patrons who are apprehensive about embracing the technology, and Applebee's will still have waiters taking orders the old-fashioned way for people who prefer talking to a person. Chili's is going with a less-comprehensive tabletop tablet solution that enhances the traditional process. Diners will still place their meal orders from a waiter, but the tablets will be there to request drink refills, order desserts, or pay for their food at the end of the meal. Customers won't be forced to embrace the new technology; Applebee's and Chili's will clearly be sensitive to traditional patrons. However, as those customers see the folks who use restaurant-provided tablets being served faster (because they could order as soon as they were ready) and being able to settle up quickly as soon as they were done, the lure of convenience will likely draw more of them as well. Sooner than you'd think, there will be fewer people ordering their meals from human servers, or leaning on them for tech support. Foodies Just Want to Have Fun It's not just the casual dining chains trying to use technology to speed up the process. Online reservations specialist OpenTable (OPEN) revealed this past weekend that it's testing a new mobile payment feature with nearly a dozen San Francisco restaurants. It's inviting a few San Francisco users of its popular smartphone app to add a credit card to the account that will allow for mobile payments to be processed. At the end of the meal, they can view their bill and pay it without having to call for a waiter. That could save servers as many as four trips to the table: one each for the bill request, delivering the bill, picking it up, and returning it after it's processed. The upside to these tech initiatives is that tables will rotate faster, allowing restaurants to serve more customers. The company providing the tablet technology to Applebee's claims that tables turn seven minutes faster once the gadgets are deployed. This will likely lead restaurants to increase staffing among cooks, food runners, and bussers. But don't be surprised if soon, it starts getting a lot harder to find a waiter at your local eatery -- and that it doesn't bother you at all.