Chinese mobile equipment manufacturers ZTE and Huawei continued to capture the majority of new mobile basestation contracts in second-quarter 2008, according to new data from EJL Wireless Research. The study found that ZTE secured 31 percent of total contract awards in the quarter – the most of any vendor tracked but slightly below the 34 percent it secured in the previous quarter. ZTE was closely followed by Huawei, which won 30 percent of all contracts. In addition to capturing 61 percent of all contracts, the study notes that the Chinese vendors also captured 100 percent of global CDMA contracts in the quarter.

The study found that the number of basestation contracts awarded in the second-quarter totalled 67, increasing from 47 in first-quarter 2008, and that every major vendor won at least one contract. According to EJL Wireless Research founder and President Earl Lum, Motorola and Nortel secured only one contract each, while Ericsson and Alcatel-Lucent each won billion dollar contracts from China Mobile. “Demand remained concentrated in both Asia Pacific and Africa during the quarter,” Lum added.