ZTE Corporation, which reported historic high revenue of more than 100 billion yuan ($15.4 billion) for 2015 on Wednesday, invested more than 12 billion yuan in research and development last year - up a whopping 35 percent over 2014. Bloomberg

Mainland tech titan announces historic high 2015 revenue after key executive shakeup

ZTE Corporation - one of the Chinese mainland's largest smartphone makers - reported historic high revenue of more than 100 billion yuan ($15.4 billion) in its 2015 annual results on Wednesday, a day after it reshuffled its top management in a move thought to be linked to the imposition of US sanctions against the company.

The Shenzhen-based company's overall revenue grew 23 percent year-on-year to 100.19 billion yuan last year, with net profit soaring 21.8 percent to 3.21 billion yuan.

Earnings per share reached 0.78 yuan.

ZTE also said it had 7.41 billion yuan in operating cash flow for 2015 - the highest in its history.

The results were announced a day after the company said it had completed a shakeup of its top management team.

According to a company statement, Zhao Xianming, the company's chief technology officer, was named ZTE's new president and chairman, replacing Shi Lirong, who had served as president since March 2010. Seven new executive vice-presidents were also appointed.

The reshuffle came a month after the US imposed sanctions on ZTE over the latter's alleged violation of US curbs on exports to Iran. Under the restrictions, US companies were banned from selling components to ZTE whose suppliers include tech giants Intel, Microsoft and Qualcomm.

Trading in ZTE shares in Shenzhen and Hong Kong has since been suspended. The company said trading would resume on Thursday.

The US government has subsequently eased the curbs until the end of June on condition that ZTE complies with its laws and cooperates with the US in the matter.

Market insiders believe the ZTE overhaul is linked to the US sanctions although ZTE insists that the two issues are unrelated.

"We'll be taking extra measures to ensure that legal compliance and anti-corruption processes eliminate any possibility of non-compliance. We will put practical measures in place to rebuild our operational philosophy and turn the challenges into opportunities," ZTE's statement said.

ZTE's smartphone business has been growing fast in the US. According to data from market research firm IDC, ZTE accounted for 7.5 percent of the US smartphone market in the third quarter of last year - up 10 percent year-on-year, becoming the world's fourth-biggest smartphone maker after Apple and South Korea's Samsung and LG.

ZTE invested 12.2 billion yuan in research and development in 2015 - rising 35.4 percent over the previous year - according to its annual results statement.

sally@chinadailyhk.com

(HK Edition 04/07/2016 page9)