Trend: Chinese handset vendors take on U.S.

Two domestic Chinese handset vendors plan to use the upcoming CTIA show in Orlando to launch handsets in the U.S. Alcatel Mobile Phones will debut phones for the U.S. market under the management of Chinese handset maker TCL. TCL will either make the phones themselves or use Compal as the manufacturer like they have done in the past. Alcatel branded phones are sold by more 30 carriers worldwide, but not yet in the U.S. Cellatel will distribute the handsets to tier 1 operators stateside, while Quality One Wireless will service tier 2 and tier 3 carriers.

ZTE USA, a subsidiary of ZTE is also planning to make some waves at CTIA later this month as it announces its first carrier deal (with a CDMA carrier) in the U.S. The company plans to focus on CDMA2000 1x EV-DO, WiMAX and home-gateway equipment.

For more on the Chinese handset makers:
- see this article from RCR