One of the world's biggest smartphone makers, ZTE Corp, announced that it aims to ship a total of 100 million high-end smartphones around the world in 2016 and some 85 million premium smartphones in 2015.

ZTE also said it aims to establish a brand in the high-end smartphone sector in order to effectively rival handset giants - Samsung Electronics Co Ltd of South Korea and the Apple Inc of the US - in China. Samsung is currently the leading smartphone brand in the country.

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According to Zeng Xuezong, ZTE's executive vice president, ZTE will make more and more premium smartphones in the coming years, especially now that China has already introduced the fourth generation (4G) telecommunications network.

ZTE launched its premium smartphone Nubia two years ago while Huawei Technologies, another Chinese smartphone manufacturer, launched the Ascend series as a high-end unit. Shipments of Nubia, ZTE said, will grow at least 300 percent this year.

Based on the company's plan, ZTE will ship 80 million smartphones globally next year, up from the 40 million in 2013 and the 60 million units it aims to ship this year. By 2016, ZTE said its global smartphone shipments will be 100 million

Analysts said smartphone makers in China have turned their eyes on high-end, premium units because the cheaper, low-end units are barely profitable because stiff competition is pushing margins too narrow.

ZTE also wants to change the global perception that Chinese brands are inferior in quality by making sure its smartphone units will be top-of-the-line, premium and of high quality, said Zeng. By doing so, he said, ZTE will be able to further generate markets such as the United States and United Kingdom.

The Chinese smartphone manufacturer currently holds 6 percent of the US market share in 2013 but it aims to increase that share to 10 percent by 2017 through a massive marketing campaign.

Tagszte smartphone, ZTE nubia