ZTE is top 10 global smartphone OEM
China’s ZTE saw its net profit soar by 94% in 2014 thanks mainly to growth in its global smartphone business and domestic high-speed network division.
The telecom equipment-maker notched profit of $423.4 million from $219 million compared to the year before. Meanwhile, operating revenue rose 8.3 percent to $13 billion.
ZTE is expanding its handset business overseas and in particular is working to become one of the top three smartphone vendors in the United States. In the U.S. alone, smartphone shipments climbed by more than 50 percent in 2014.
In the U.S., ZTE sells its Grand S Pro, Warp Sync and Nubia 5 among other smartphone models.
The adoption of fourth-generation mobile networks in China has also been positive for the company.
Last week, China Mobile reported that its 2014 profit fell 10%, slightly below market expectations and marking the company’s biggest annual profit drop since 1999. And ChinaTelecom announced that its net profit rose slightly by about 1% year-over-year to $2.84 billion in 2014.
AirSage buys Decell Technologies
AirSage has acquired Israel’s Decell Technologies in a deal it says significantly expands its product portfolio and global reach, the financial terms were not disclosed.
Decell provides real-time, historical and predictive road-traffic information as well as analytics solutions using cellular and GPS floating car data. In addition to Israel, Decell operates in Europe, South America and Southeast Asia.
“AirSage has had a long history in the transportation arena. The acquisition of Decell will allow us to provide further value in the U.S. and abroad. Decell’s expertise in travel time and speed data rounds out the AirSage product portfolio,” said AirSage Founder and CEO Cy Smith, in a written statement.
Atlanta-based AirSage provides population movement information through access to anonymous cellular-signal data points from wireless carriers that can range from 50 to 250 data points per day, per device from more than 100 million mobile devices.
