China Mobile to launch cheap smartphone

China Mobile will launch a low-priced smartphone based on the Android operating system jointly with ZTE Corp early next year.

Yang Qi, chief engineer at ZTE, said the customized smartphone will be priced at about RMB1,000 (US$150.)

He said ZTE has launched an Android-based smartphone at the same price jointly with China Telecom. ZTE has sold more than one million smart terminals globally.

CapitalVue reports China Mobile will also launch more than 30 versions of the OPhone jointly with ZTE, Huawei, Samsung, Motorola, Sony Ericsson, Coolpad, LG, Dell, TCL, Philips, Hisense, Lenovo, Asus and Acer in 2011.