ZTE isn't a particularly huge name here in the U.S., mainly due to the fact that they mainly produce low-end featurephones and USB data sticks, but the company is planning to make a big splash in the North American market in 2011. Speaking with PCMag, Jeff Ji, general manager of ZTE USA, revealed that ZTE plans to launch up to 28 phones in North America this year. Included in that number will be at least one Windows Phone 7 device, Ji said, and we could be seeing some Android phones as well as devices for use with T-Mobile's 42Mbps HSPA+ network, as well. ZTE will be working with carriers including Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, MetroPCS, and Cricket to provide "quality, performance, and design," Ji explained. The company is even working on some LTE-capable devices, although Ji doesn't believe that there will be huge demand for them. He says that 14.4 and 21Mbps HSPA+ products are "good enough for now."
It's always good to hear of a manufacturer working to bring a ton of new devices to the market, especially when they crank out products like the Skate that you're looking at above. As for his statement that consumers won't be demanding speedy LTE products, I'd say that he's mostly right. HSPA+ and its 14.4 and 21Mbps speeds will be plenty for most, especially since LTE isn't terribly widespread right now. There will always be some folks clamoring for faster and faster speeds, like many of us phone nerds, so it's good that they're developing LTE devices, too. What do you all think? Is 14.4 and 21Mbps HSPA+ fast enough for you?
UPDATE: ZTE has detailed a couple of its two products that it'll be bringing stateside sometime in the second half of this year. First up is a handset called the Style S that'll feature a 4.3-inch display, 5 megapixel camera, 0.3 megapixel front-facing camera, and Android 2.3. A ZTE-branded tablet is also on its way, which will sport a 10-inch 1280x800 display, 1.2GHz core, LTE support, and Honeycomb. No carriers have been mentioned just yet.
