Major smartphone OEM, and 'getting there' with its channel brand, it was about time that ZTE designed its own mobile SoC (system on chip). The company is reportedly working on one, and given that it features 4G LTE support, one can draw a couple of inferences.

　　First, that it's a mid-thru-high performance chip. 4G LTE takes considerable amount of CPU power, and smartphones with LTE feature generally high resolution displays. Second, that ZTE isn't waiting for LTE-like high-bandwidth cellular data technologies to proliferate in China, and is designing its chip to make its mark in international markets. ZTE's principal competitor from China, Huawei, has been building its own SoCs since 2012.