Skip to main content

ZTE CEO at CES 2017: ZTE could play a bigger role in the internet of things

ZTE U.S.A. CEO Lixin Cheng spoke with Digital Trends at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week, saying the company takes a much more “grass-roots” approach to advertising — through word of mouth and through its great phones — and that strategy seems to be working.

Cheng also spoke a little about the fact that ZTE isn’t just a smartphone business — the company believes in connecting everything.

“We have mobile devices — the smartphone is a big part of that. We believe that in the future, everything is connected. Firstly, the communication between people, but we’re also going to facilitate collaboration between machines,” Cheng said in the interview. “Everyone’s talking about artificial intelligence and the internet of things, but that’s only the tip of the iceberg.”

So should we glean from the interview that ZTE is going to play a bigger role in the internet of things? Well, it’s certainly possible. Apart from its smartphone business, ZTE is also known for wireless devices, and even internet hot spots for your car, such as the ZTE Mobley. Bringing out more connected devices that play nice with the products that ZTE already offers would make sense.

ZTE also makes tablets, and while the tablet market is largely shrinking, ZTE is still forging ahead in that sector. During the interview, Cheng said that we should expect more tablets this year, as ZTE continues its tradition of offering premium quality at an affordable price.

Check out the video below to see the full interview.

Digital Trends is live all week at CES 2017 in Las Vegas. Check out our continuing coverage live on YouTube, Facebook, #DTces, and DigitalTrends.com/ces/.

Christian de Looper
Christian’s interest in technology began as a child in Australia, when he stumbled upon a computer at a garage sale that he…
How to view Instagram without an account
An iPhone 15 Pro Max showing Instagram via a web browser.

Instagram is one of the largest social media platforms on the planet. Whether you want to share a family photo, what you had for lunch at your favorite cafe, or a silly video of your cat, Instagram is the place to do it.

Read more
Something odd is happening with Samsung’s two new budget phones
A person holding the Samsung Galaxy A35 and Galaxy A55.

The Samsung Galaxy A35 (left) and Galaxy A55 Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

I’ve been using the Samsung Galaxy A55 for almost two weeks and have now swapped my SIM card over to the Samsung Galaxy A35. These are the latest entries in Samsung's budget-minded Galaxy-A series. In all honestly, I can barely tell the difference between them.

Read more
Learn 14 languages: Get $449 off a lifetime subscription to Babbel
A person using the Babbel app on their smartphone.

Learning a new language no longer requires you to make time for formal classes because there are now several language learning apps that you can tap. One of them is Babbel, and you can currently get a lifetime subscription to the online learning platform for only $150 from StackSocial. That's $449 off its original price of $599, but we don't know how much time is remaining before the offer expires. If you want to take advantage of the 74% discount, it's highly recommended that you complete the transaction immediately.

Why you should buy the Babbel lifetime subscription
A lifetime subscription to Babbel not only unlocks the possibility of learning one or two new languages, as the platform encompasses a total of 14 languages: English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Portuguese, Swedish, Turkish, Dutch, Polish, Indonesia, Norwegian, Danish, and Russian. You'll be learning your new language of choice with lessons that only take 10 minutes to 15 minutes each to complete, so unlike classes with a rigid schedule, you can learn at your own pace and at any time you're free through Babbel. The lessons cover real-life topics, and they use speech recognition technology to help you master pronunciation. You'll then test yourself through personalized review sessions that will help make sure that you retain all the information that's being taught to you.

Read more