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Harare Bureau
CHINESE telecoms equipment and handset manufacturer, ZTE is set to open 50 branches in Zimbabwe this year, which will also include a technical and repair centre for all its products.

In the past ZTE used to sell its products through Econet Wireless.

An investment of $1,5 million has been set aside for the process.

The company’s grand entry on local market will be shown through the launch of its latest smart phone ZTE Axon at an event to be held in Harare today.

ZTE official Zhou Zhongguo told our Harare Bureau yesterday that the telecoms equipment manufacturer has seen great potential in Zimbabwe and is looking at increasing its presence by the end of the year.

“We’re looking at opening 50 new branches in Zimbabwe with about $30,000 to be spent at each branch by year end. The investment is in line with the potential that we’ve seen in the Zimbabwean market,” said Zhongguo.

“We’ve opened a service centre at Joina City where we’ll be providing all spare parts and accessories as this will make it easier for our customers. We’re also looking for agents with good spaces to market our ZTE brand going forward,” he said.

Zhongguo said ZTE is also dedicated to establishing its brand in the high end device market, focusing on the  development of its Axon flagship series aimed at business professionals and the Blade series aimed at the young and lower end of the market.

He said ZTE also has Spro series of smart projectors which is the company’s hi-tech answer to the evolving needs of users’ smart lifestyle.

The Axon smart phone to be launched today has an excellent reputation among users, as it enjoys the highest positive feedback rate among the various models with 97 percent in Jingdong (using trustworthy, original reviews).

The Axon mobile phone has received unanimous recognition from high end users in China with 12 State leaders (in addition to Chinese leaders) currently using the mobile phone. It has been honoured as a national gift in China.

Axon mobile phone was the winner of an unprecedented award for a Chinese brand, which is the User Experience Award at IFA 2015.

ZTE has been in operation since 1998 and has grown to become one of the most recognised global mobile phone manufacturers.

In 2015, ZTE mobile devices sustained steady growth in shipments and outperformed the market. Approximately 100 million ZTE mobile devices were shipped worldwide in 2015, of which 56 million units were smart phones.

The mobile phone manufacturer was ranked among the top six smart phone manufacturers globally in 2015 and was also ranked among the top five LTE smart phone manufacturers.