ZTE preparing a new Firefox OS smartphone for 2014
ZTE is preparing a new entry level Firefox OS based phone for the next year, the Chinese manufacturer has revealed. The new smartphone will be a direct successor to the ZTE Open – a budget friendly device released in 2013. He Shiyou, company’s vice president has revealed in a recent interview that the sales of the first model the ZTE Open are far above the initial expectations. So far, more than 100 000 devices have been sold worldwide, Shiyou revealed.
Initially developed for the emerging markets in Latin America, the ZTE Open was launched in the US and the UK, where the handset enjoyed a huge popularity. It was actually sold out, but priced at £59.99 this was not a big surprise. Now, ZTE hopes that it will manage to sell more than 200 000 units from the smartphone worldwide, and the company sees the potential of the new Firefox OS, especially in the low-end segment.
Company’ SEO says: “We didn’t expect such a huge demand”. Of course, it is impossible to compare the sales of the Firefox device with any budget Android phone, but it is a good start. “The first model is still very popular on eBay and other online retailers”, He Shiyou explains.
The new ZTE device running Firefox OS is expected during the first half of 2014. ZTE hopes that the operating system will go mainstream, because it has many advantages. For example, the web based OS removes the need to install apps and with the LTE network development, these apps will load quickly on the devices, eliminating the need of much storage space.
Currently, ZTE is the fifth largest smartphone manufacturer in the world. The company’s products are extremely popular in China and in the developing countries. ZTE has recently announced its plans for a more intensive expansion in the US and in other key markets.
Source: TechHive
