China Unicom to launch own-brand smartphone by year-end

China Unicom, the country's No 2 mobile operator, said it will launch an own-brand smartphone series by the end of this year to draw more business to its 3G data network.

The Uphone would be manufactured by Huawei Technologies and ZTE Corp, but pricing details and production numbers had not yet been set, Zhang Zhijiang, head of China Unicom's technology department, said on Thursday.