ZTE said that improvements on its margins for international contracts, coupled with growth in its domestic 4G infrastructure business, had boosted its bottom line in the first half of 2014 – with the company promising “triple digit” profit growth in its nine-month forecast.

The company reported a profit attributable to shareholders of CNY1.13 billion ($183.75 million), compared with a prior year figure of CNY310 million (up 263.92 per cent), on revenue of CNY37.7 billion, which was essentially flat year-on-year.

Adding the current quarter to the mix, it is expecting net profit for the nine months in the CNY1.7 billion to CNY1.9 billion range, up between 208.2 per cent and 244.5 per cent.

For its home market, it said that during the first half it saw a “rapid growth in operating revenue” as operators ramped their 4G rollouts, although this was offset by lower handset sales. A little over half of ZTE’s revenue – CNY19.26 billion – came from China.

Internationally, it said that in addition to its strategy of focusing on major populous nations and mainstream operators, it “further optimised its market profile” to achieve “stable operations and quality growth”.

Some CNY21.84 billion of the company’s sales came from its operator networks activities (up 14.6 per cent year-on-year), with it stating that its “innovative Cloud Radio solution” had boosted 4G sales both at home and overseas.

While its legacy 2G/3G business saw “stable growth”, ZTE also said that it has “designated the development of 5G technologies as a strategic project”.

Its terminals business accounted for CNY10.41 billion of sales (down 16.5 per cent), with the company having established a dedicated business department “focused on the shift to a more consumer-oriented and internet-driven approach”.

It said that resources are “mainly committed to the creation of new boutique handset models and software services in a bid to enhance the group’s product competitiveness and users’ experience”. But in the meantime, it has suffered as sales of 3G devices in China has tailed off.

The company’s outlook was positive, due to “a new investment cycle with large-scale deployment of 4G networks around the world, especially the issue of 4G licenses in China and the approval of the trial operation of TD-LTE/LTE FDD hybrid networking”.

But it cautioned: “Carriers must address the issue of ‘dumb pipe’ or ‘dumb information’ as they become fully engaged in 4G operations, and business opportunities will abound for those who are able to create value out of information.”