Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2013—29
ZTE clinches 5% of global smartphone market
FG kick-starts work on silicon valley project BY EMMA ELEBEKE
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HE Federal gov ernment on Monday, says work is to commence at the proposed Silicon Valley at Sheda Science and Technology Complex, SHETSCO with a feasibility studies to begin this month. The Minister of Science and Technology, Prof. Ita Okon Ewa Bassey stated this at a one day stakeholders’ meeting held in Abuja. He also disclosed that Nigeria had received a
$7 million offer from the World Technopolis Association, Poland for waste to wealth facility at the technology park. The money according to him, would be used to convert all the technology and e-wastes from the park into wealth. He said that the transformation of the Technology park had become imperative to enable the country catch up with other technologically advanced countries in the world. ‘‘The need to catch up with other advanced
countries of the is the immediate impetus for the country’s desire to establish the SHETSCO Silicon Valley, as a platform for developing and harnessing the potentials of job and wealth creation, technological advancement and economic development of Nigeria, and more importantly to become the main hub for technological inventions, development and manufacturing both for Nigeria and African regional market,’’ said the minister.
As part of efforts aimed at fast-tracking the development process, the minister said he had secured the assistance of the World Technopolis Association, WTA at the 8th WTA General Assembly in Poland for the establishment of the SHETSCo Silicon Valley. In addition to this, he said that the ministry had signed a memorandum of understanding, MoU with the President, Georgia Institute of Technology, Dr. G.P Bud, Peterson this month.
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HINESE communi cations equipment maker, ZTE, shipped 11.5 million smartphones in the second quarter, a year-on-year increase of 79%, vaulting the maker of Grand S and Grand Memo to fourth position globally with 5% market share, according to data from research company Strategy Analytics. The strong sales performance, which made ZTE the highest-placed Chinese smartphone manufacturer, is built on the company’s commitment to design excellence and customer satisfaction. ZTE will leverage its strengthening position in the global smartphone
market to develop products focused on three key segments: 4G, high-end devices, and phones based on newer platforms such as Intel chipsets and the Firefox operating system. To fuel ZTE’s development of high-performance products, the company plans to unveil its selfdeveloped chipset to power 4G devices at the PT/ EXPO COMM CHINA 2013 conference in Beijing in September. The ZTE chipset will be the first in the industry to attain 4G standards in communications and data throughput, heralding a breakthrough in 4G technology globally. Since ZTE began its strategy revamp in mobile devices in 2011, the company has evolved its product lineup, offering flagship devices such as Grand Memo, Grand S, N986 and U988s for the high-end market, and diversifying from lower-cost products such as ZTE Blade and ZTE Skate. ZTE has one of the industry’s most comprehensive range of Android products, featuring devices with 4-inch, 5-inch and 5.7 inch HD displays, in addition to 5 megapixel, 8 megapixel and 13 megapixel cameras. Through the company’s collaboration with Intel and Firefox, ZTE is wellpositioned to take advantage of the growth in the non-Android segment of the global smartphone market. In July, ZTE and Intel jointly launched the GEEK smartphone, powered by Intel’s 2.0GHz dual-core Atom processor Z2580, with Intel’s hyperthreading technology and Turbo Boost feature providing superior multitasking performance and power efficiency. The GEEK smartphone further strengthened ZTE’s partnership with Intel, after the two companies collaborated to offer the Grand X IN smartphone in 2012. This year, ZTE and Firefox collaborated to offer the ZTE Open, featuring open Web technology and support for HTML 5 applications in a new operating platform. As the first Firefox phone, and featuring ZTE’s intelligent offline search technology, ZTE Open has first-mover advantage and generated positive user reviews from customers. ZTE will continue to execute its multi-pronged product strategy, based on the well-proven “Purchasing Management Model” concept, to maintain healthy and sustainable growth in the smartphone business, and deliver positive financial returns.