Chinese vendor ZTE yesterday posted impressive third-quarter revenue and profit growth, a marked contrast to the performance of larger rivals Ericsson and Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN). Q3 revenue rose 42.8 percent to CNY15.14 billion (US$2.22 billion), whilst net profit for the period July-September jumped 58.2 percent to CNY409 million. “This success was attributable in large part to leveraging opportunities presented by the need for network construction in emerging markets against the backdrop of an improving global economic environment,” the company noted in a statement. It cited China’s planned US$58.5 billion deployment of 3G networks as a major catalyst of growth. Overseas markets accounted for almost half of ZTE’s revenue. Product-wise, its carrier network division saw revenue grow 47 percent year-on-year, terminal products enjoyed a 39 percent third-quarter growth rate, whilst the group’s software division saw revenue grow 18 percent. Looking ahead, ZTE said it will “continue to strengthen cooperation with mainstream international carriers” and “seek increased presence in key markets such as Western Europe and North America while reinforcing its position in the China 3G market.”

Over the past year, ZTE and domestic rival Huawei nearly doubled their share of the global mobile equipment market, according to Dell’Oro Group. Last week Ericsson shocked the market by reporting a huge 71 percent drop in net income (to SEK810 million/US$118 million). Sales for the Swedish vendor came in at SEK46.4 billion, a 6 percent slip on revenue of SEK49.2 billion in the year-ago quarter. A week earlier Nokia announced a EUR908 million writedown at its struggling network equipment joint-venture, NSN.