Skip to main content

ZTE decides to shrink smartphone range, use voice control features to boost brand

zte shrinks smartphone range to boost brand grand x max top rear
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Chinese smartphone manufacturer ZTE is rethinking its strategy for 2015 and beyond. According to Zeng Xuezhong, CEO of ZTE’s mobile devices division, who spoke to the China Daily recently, the company will focus on “two or three core devices and shed some of the products which have proved less competitive in the market.”

Apparently, the reason for the downsizing of its extensive portfolio of hardware is it hasn’t helped the company increase its brand or place in the market. In the report, Zeng states ZTE and other Chinese mobile companies should “focus on boosting brand value by paying attention to core and competitive products.”

Recommended Videos

Last week, we were given our first look at the new direction ZTE’s taking when it launched the ZTE Star 2. The 5-inch, Snapdragon 801-powered phone incorporates an expansive voice control feature, which can even be used offline or when the phone is locked. ZTE intends to use voice control features to differentiate its range of new phones, which it hopes will make it a strong contender in the high-end smartphone market.

According to Gartner’s most recent smartphone market share data, ZTE isn’t one of the top five manufacturers in the world, but the firm will probably be more concerned over the rise of Xiaomi, which has leapt into fourth position ahead of Lenovo, LG, Sony, and other big names. ZTE hopes features like voice control will help it combat the “cool” Xiaomi brand, and boost its domestic market share. Zeng forecasts ZTE will sell 60 million phones during the next year.

ZTE has recently said it has big plans for the U.S. market, saying it wants to pass competitors such as LG to take the number three spot in the market. So far, it hasn’t confirmed whether the Star 2 will launch outside China, or how a range reduction will affect its international expansion plans. We should learn more at CES in January.

Andy Boxall
Andy is a Senior Writer at Digital Trends, where he concentrates on mobile technology, a subject he has written about for…
A new leak teases how thin the Galaxy S25 Slim will be — and it’s impressive
Side profile of the Samsung Galaxy S24 FE.

The Samsung Galaxy S25 "Slim" has been part of the rumor mill for a while now. If you've missed it, here's what you need to know: It almost certainly does exist, and it's expected to launch sometime during the middle of 2025, instead of next month like the rest of the Galaxy S25 lineup. And now, we have a better idea of just how thin this phone might actually be.

Well-known tipster Ice Universe shared the information on Weibo, stating that its thickness "may be 6.x mm." In other words, the leaker isn't sure of the exact thickness, but expects it to fall between 6mm and 6.9mm.

Read more
Google Photos is getting a cool new feature to speed up your photo edits
Google Photos' year in review feature for 2024.

Google Photos for Android is introducing a new feature that simplifies photo editing right before sharing. A tipster from Android Authority first reported this tool.

The new “Quick Edit” tool lets users easily enhance or crop individual photos before sharing them. It features an “Enhance” button, which functions similarly to the “Enhance” effect in the standard photo-editing options. A crop button is also similar to the one in the regular photo editor. When multiple photos are selected before hitting the share button, the typical share sheet appears instead of the new “Quick Edit” screen.

Read more
The base model Galaxy S25 will get a RAM upgrade we’ve waited years for
Someone holding the Samsung Galaxy S24 with the display turned on.

Back in November, we heard rumors that the Samsung Galaxy S25 might come with an upgraded amount of RAM compared to the base Galaxy S24. The Galaxy S24 Plus and S24 Ultra both start with 12GB of RAM minimum, but until now, the majority of base-model Samsung handsets only had 8GB.

Abhishek Yadav, a known leaker, shared a post on X that said the base storage variant of the Galaxy S25 would come with 12GB of RAM. This also implies that the base storage is likely to be 256GB too. As apps, operating systems, and integrated AI become more powerful, so do their technical requirements. A bump to the base amount of RAM and storage will yield improved performance (hopefully) without a significant cost increase.

Read more