China’s answer to the iPhone and the Galaxy S4 delayed until 2014

ZTE has revealed that it won’t release its flagship Grand S smartphone in the US until 2014, putting on hold its plans to establish a foot-hold in the high end of Western smartphone markets.

According to CNet, ZTE blames the delay on the need to accommodate requests from mobile carriers.

As SmartCompany reported in January, ZTE first unveiled its flagship quad-core five-inch Android smartphone at the 2013 International CES in Las Vegas.

ZTE claimed at the time that customers would be able to expect download speeds of 100 Mbps and upload speeds of 50 Mbps when using the device in 4G coverage areas, with the company also claiming it would be thinnest 5-inch smartphone on the market.

“The ZTE Grand S gives our customers the latest in technology, functionality and style. We understand that today’s consumers call for advanced features and state-of-the-art multimedia options in their handsets, and the ZTE Grand S confidently addresses those demands,” says ZTE corporate vice president Kan Yulun.

ZTE is China’s fifth largest smartphone vendor with around 6.9% of the Chinese smartphone market, with China estimated to have overtaken the US as of May last year as the world’s largest smartphone market.

However, in Western markets the company is best known as a low-cost manufacturer of phones that are usually sold under a phone company’s own brand, with past examples including the Telstra EasyTouch 4G.

However, after receiving a massive $US20 billion injection from the Chinese government, more than the combined market capitalisation of Nokia and BlackBerry, the company is attempting to make an aggressive push into Western markets.