ZTE overtakes Apple, grows even more

Chinese infrastructure giant and phonemaker ZTE has announced its revenue for the nine months up to 30 September is at US $9.32 billion. At the same time, a report from Strategy Analytics says ZTE has become the world's 4th largest handset vendor, overtaking Apple.

Strategy Analytics' Alex Spektor said in a statement that ZTE really was the star of the show, managing to nab five percent market share. He put the growth down to its cheap entry-level feature phones and Android smartphones.

ZTE's $9.32 billion revenue for the first nine months is an increase of 26.5 percent based on the same time last year. The Chinese company - which is huge in its home territories - has been on an aggressive crusade to flood the world with its smartphones, expanding into Europe with its own branded handsets last year.