ZTE has announced that its net profit for the year 2019 was $726 million dollars. That’s approximately CNY 5.15 billion which translates to about 173% YoY growth. ZTE attributes this stellar performance to its growing market share in Africa and Asia. Those two contributed the most to its balance sheet. Its vendors also reported strong performance that largely cushioned them against revenue decline in the consumer division. ZTE’s operating revenue was about CNY 90.7 billion in 2019. This is about 6.1% increase YoY and revenue from network operators reached CNY 66.6 billion or 17% YoY increase.
The company has stated that it had secured 46 commercial 5G contracts from operators across the globe. It has also established partnerships with more than 70 network operators internationally. The aforementioned 5G contracts are spread in markets across China, Asia Pacific, Middle, and Europe. It involves all major players in the sector such as MTN, Wind Tre, China Mobile, Telefonica, China Telecom, Orange, and Hutchison Drei Austria.
By the end of the year 2019. ZTE had invested CNY 12.55 billion in 5G R&D. This accounted for about 13.8% of its operational cost and in the domestic market. ZTE is already working with China’s major telcos in the initial rollout of 5G. The company is keen on supporting vendors to ensure their competitiveness. It plans to achieve this by continuing to invest heavily in 5G related technologies such as chipset development, A.I., and core network infrastructure.
Local 5G Commitment
ZTE has supported local operators in a move that saw them build the biggest multi-mode. Hybrid architecture and the first biggest RAN sharing network in the world. Therefore, realizing continuous 5G coverage across China. In the meantime, the company is also cooperating with major international players. This is to construct commercial 5G networks in countries such as Spain, Italy, Austria, and others. As it continues to promote the global adoption of 5G technology.
So far the company has already achieved large scale deployment of end to end 5G transport products. By close of 2019. There were already 40 commercial 5G networks and pilot sites in operation across China, Austria, Italy, and other countries. Not only is ZTE leading the pack in technology innovation. It’s also a socially responsible company and this became evident in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic. They donated testing equipment, protective gear, and sanitizer to healthcare facilities on the frontline of the war against the disease.
They also partnered with other operators to construct 4G and 5G networks in 210 hospitals. Covering 26 provinces in China and the ZTE video conferencing system was deployed within 24 hours in Wuhan mobile cabin hospital. ZTE says in its press release that it’s fully committed to support and strengthen the use of 5G applications across industries.
In 2018, ZTE posted a CNY 6.98 billion net loss as a result of $1 billion shillings in penalties from the United States government, a situation that led to an increase in operating losses and other issues related to its business suspension.
Terry Ts 
Rudhra Nandu