ZTE launched the Axon 10 Pro back in February at MWC 2019. However, it wasn’t available for purchase until early May in ZTE’s home country of China as well as some markets in Europe. Three months later, ZTE has now announced the phone in the US.

The Axon 10 Pro launched in the US is available in two variants – an 8GB RAM version with 256GB of storage for $549 and a 12GB RAM version with 256GB of storage for $599. It is also said to have support for US LTE bands 2, 4, 5, 12, 13, 25, 26, 30, 41, 66, and 71.

The ZTE Axon 10 Pro has a 6.47-inch curved AMOLED display with a 1080 x 2340 resolution. There is a notch at the top of the screen for a 20MP f/2.0 sensor. It also has an in-display fingerprint scanner.

The Axon 10 Pro, like a lot of other flagships released in the first half of the year, is powered by the Snapdragon 855 processor. It has triple rear cameras which include a 48MP f/1.7 primary sensor with PDAF and OIS; an 8MP telephoto camera also with PDAF and OIS and 3x optical zoom, 5x hybrid zoom, and 20x digital zoom; and a 20MP f/2.2 125° ultrawide camera.

The phone doesn’t have an audio jack but has stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos. There is NFC, Bluetooth 5.0, and a hybrid dual nano-SIM card tray which allows you to use two SIMs at a time or one SIM and a MicroSD card (1TB max.). The Axon 10 Pro packs a 4000mAh battery and can be quickly recharged thanks to supporting Quick Charge 4+. It also has support for Qi wireless charging and is splash resistant. ZTE has installed a clean version of Android that is similar to stock Android 9 Pie but with some useful customizations.

The phone is only available in Blue and can be pre-ordered on the official ZTE USA site, B&H Photo, and Newegg. B&H Photo says shipping will begin on September 6 and will include a free Mophie 10000mAh Encore Plus power bank.

(Via)

UP NEXT: ZTE Axon 10 Pro 5G comes with 100GB of FREE 4G/5G data per month till September in China

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Finally, the Trump administration has reached a deal with the Chinese telecommunications company ZTE. The hi-tech giant, accused of violating U.S. sanctions by selling telecom technology to Iran and North Korea had agreed to pay a $1 billion fine, then replace its board and senior leadership and allow the U.S. administration to inspect the company for its compliance team. With these conditions, the U.S. will finally lift a seven-year ban which could have led the company to its end. Indeed, the ban of ZTE would have prevented the company from buying American products for seven long years.

This means that U.S. companies such as Qualcomm would not be allowed to send components to ZTE for seven years. So, the Chinese hi-tech giant would not be able to get Snapdragon processors, as well as many other components which are very important to manufacture smartphones. Note that the company employs 75,000 workers and its value was about $20 billion before the ban. Thanks to this new deal between the U.S. administration and ZTE, tensions with the Chinese president Xi Jinping, who has personally asked Donald Trump to save the company, will surely defuse. It is worth mentioning that lawmakers are not very happy with this deal (top Republicans too).

According to them, it is not in the interest of the US to help a Chinese company that evidently broke American law and was accused to be a national security threat. A few months ago, the FBI, CIA, and NSA suggested American citizens not to buy smartphones made by Chinese tech companies such as Huawei and ZTE as they were defined a security threat to American customers. According to FBI Director Chris Wray, there is a risk of letting any company beholden to foreign governments inside the U.S. telecommunications infrastructure.

Do you agree with the ban lift for a $1 billion fine and more control on the company?

(Via)

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At CES 2018, CEO of ZTE, Lixin Cheng revealed that the company plans to release a 5G smartphone at the end of the year or early 2019.

5G was one of the major topics discussed at the event this year. Its applications span several sectors and will change or greatly improve how we do things.

Mr. Cheng says the company may also add a 5G tablet or a wireless-internet hub for homes. Some carriers such as AT&T already announced plans to test 5G services in about 12 cities. Qualcomm is also already working on 5G chips that will drive devices. For ZTE to achieve its plans, it needs  the carriers and also chips from Qualcomm.

However, things may not be so smooth. Authorities in the US are scrutinizing Chinese smartphone makers. Last year, ZTE was fined by the US for selling technology to Iran. Huawei also had its deal with AT&T fall apart this week. There are also reports that a proposed bill may ban devices and services from both companies

Some Chinese manufacturers do offer their phones in the US unlocked but working with a carrier helps boost their popularity among consumers. ZTE is not new to selling phones via carriers. Its latest phone, the Axon M is sold by AT&T. However, if the bill is passed, it will affect the scheme of things.

RELATED: Huawei to Release 5G Smartphones in 2019

Other manufacturers are also working on 5G in their own way but have not made any announcements about phones yet. Samsung is partnering with Verizon this month to test 5G in parts of California. Apple has also gotten permission to begin testing 5G networking.

(Source)

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While there are so many reasons to the layoff, it can be attributed to ZTE’s plans to restructure its operations and organizational structure after a poor financial year which can be partly blamed on the trade restrictions imposed by US Commerce department. An unnamed source has also said ZTE is using this as an opportunity to lay off employees who have applied for jobs at rival companies like Huawei.

Managers have already been briefed and the exercise is expected to be completed by the end of March. Majority of the layoffs will be concentrated in China (20% of employees there) where it has been losing market share for several quarters now.

READ MORE: ZTE Hawkeye is ZTE’s Crowdsourced Smartphone. Now Up for PRe-Order at $199

ZTE has earned a fourth reprieve that will last till the 27th of February, of its trade restrictions following its cooperation during a federal probe. The trade restrictions were imposed on the company after it violated US trade sanctions on Iran.

Adding ZTE’s layoff and Foxconn’s plan to automate all its production facilities, there will be a significant number of unemployed people in China this year.

(Source)

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In a suprising move, the US department of commerce decided to ban exports to China’s ZTE. This reportedly comes as a result of ZTE’s decision to sell products using components from US companies to Iran. The Commerce Department retaliated to this by forcing US companies to apply for export licenses to sell to ZTE. With such  restrcitions enforced by the department, these export licenses will most likely be denied.

While this will affect ZTE greatly, who relies on US suppliers for up to 43 percent of its components, US chipmakers will also be affected adversely. Qualcomm and Intel will no longer be able to sell its chipsets to the Chinese smartphone maker, possibly affecting its sales and revenue in the coming quarters.

Ban on sales to ZTE may not just result into short terms losses for these companies. Chinese Government has always stressed on being independent, and this might present as a good opportunity for ZTE to invest in component manufacturers in its home country. So, even if the ban is lifted in the coming months, not all of the company’s previous business might return back to US. So, it looks like companies like Qualcomm, Intel and even Broadcom could lose some business as a result of this ban.

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ZTE has massive plans in its head for grabbing the U.S. market. ZTE has openly challenged Xiaomi, the leading and most popular Chinese smartphone maker. According to Lixin Cheng, the CEO of ZTE U.S. operations, the company has a target of increasing the sale twice than before, this year. The next plan is to bypass and go one step ahead of LG. LG has been at number 3 position in U.S. market. ZTE wants to dethrone LG and wants to fetch that number three spot.

The current position of ZTE in smartphone market is a bit confused. ZTE says that they are just a step down than the LG, i.e. they are at number four in U.S. smartphone market. But the data and market analysis by ComScore data in July didn’t include ZTE even in the top five positions. LG was at third position in this list. Reports suggests that ZTE is facing a dark phase in China as it has been removed from the top 5 smartphone companies of China. The CEO of US operations, Cheng mentioned that the ZTE has set up milestone by selling 10 million ZTE smartphones in the U.S. market during last year and now the company has aim to reach the target of 20 million. To achieve its goal, the company has planned to launch a diverse range of mixed range products, like ZTE cool, ZTE Nubia 5S Mini, etc.

A few months back, ZTE was thinking of increasing its advertising and marketing budget in the U.S. to $120 million. For this, the company has signed a deal with a well-known basketball team – Houston Rockets.

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With the IFA trade show in Berlin coming soon, the mobile world is abuzz with rumours and announcements. The biggest and busiest time for the mobile phone manufacturers is here as they all compete against each other to bring out something new and innovative. To add to the buzz, Apple will launch its latest iPhone on 9^th September which has the attention of the entire world set on it. All mobile phone manufacturers are utilising this time to the fullest by bringing out latest phones and showcasing their latest technologies.

However, ZTE has something else in mind. Instead of jumping in the crowd like all other competitors, ZTE wants to wait till the excitement has died down. Only then will it hold a launch event of its own. It seems that the company does not want to share the attention of customers with other competitors. It wants all eyeballs to be fixed on its product. The above said event will take place on 16^th September at New York City. However, it is still not clear as to which phone will ZTE launch at this event?

The company’s USA branch has launched a seven second Vine video which is the invite to this event. Since the event is taking place in USA and the invite has also been launched by ZTE USA it is being anticipated that the device will be up for sales in the USA. It is not common for ZTE products to be sold in the USA but recently Nubia 5S Mini entered the US market through a sales agreement with Amazon.com.

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