ZTE to launch Android tablet this year

V9 device will launch in Europe, Asia-Pacific and Latin America, executive reveals.

Chinese telecommunications equipment maker ZTE Corp. plans to launch a tablet device using Google Inc.'s Android operating system this year in Europe, Latin America and the Asia-Pacific, He Shiyou, head of ZTE's mobile terminals business, said Thursday.

The device, internally called the V9, will have a 7-inch screen, and the company will look to offer similar products in North America after promoting the tablet elsewhere, He said in an interview with Dow Jones Newswires.

He declined to say which carriers will offer the device or how much it will cost, but said ZTE aims to keep its price less than 50% more expensive than a smartphone to make it affordable for more consumers.

The device will have both a touchscreen and a keyboard, said a ZTE branding department official who declined to be named.

ZTE's plans for an Android tablet come as device makers look to follow up on the success of Apple Inc.'s iPad with rival devices, which also serve to diversify the companies' product lines as competition gets tougher. Dell Inc. last month started selling its 5-inch Streak tablet with Android in the U.S., and Samsung Electronics Co. Thursday announced a tablet called the Galaxy Tab.

Cost advantages at ZTE, which is known for beating the prices of Western rivals in its telecommunications equipment business, could help its tablet device win more buyers as the global economy and demand for consumer electronics both recover.

He also said he hopes the U.S. will become ZTE's biggest mobile phone market by unit sales in about five years, though the country currently accounts for a "relatively low" proportion. But he said the U.S. market is highly competitive with established players such as South Korea's LG Electonics Inc. and Samsung, and that reaching that goal could also take longer.

He declined to say which country is currently ZTE 's biggest mobile phone market by unit sales. But ZTE on Thursday said it shipped 11 million handsets in China in the first half, out of 28 million worldwide. The global shipments figure was a 40% rise from a year earlier, ZTE said, without giving the earlier figure.

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