Do you still remember ZTE phones? The brand has almost disappeared from our radar, but the company’s profit shot up to almost five times!

Do you still remember ZTE phones? A few years ago we wrote about them regularly on China Planet, and in the newsroom we even reviewed the Axon 40 Ultra model with a selfie camera hidden under the display. Today you hardly hear about the brand among fans of Chinese phones, but the company is doing well elsewhere. In the third quarter, it earned almost five times more than last year, and according to the newspaper South China Morning Post, its Hong Kong shares jumped as much as 7% on Tuesday. The boost came from artificial intelligence, but the phones have nothing to do with it—ZTE makes money on servers.

Nearly fivefold profit

On its website, ZTE published results according to which from July to September it earned 1.31 billion yuan net (about €176 million), 394.5% more than a year ago. Quarterly revenue rose by 34% to 38.81 billion yuan (about €5.2 billion), and for the first nine months of the year it reached 116.84 billion yuan (about €15.7 billion).

In the first nine months, however, it isn’t that great. Net profit for this period fell by 23,7 % to 4,06 billion yuan (about 544 million €), because the company earned less in the first half. Such a big jump in the third quarter is also because last year’s third quarter was very weak. Analysts from Citi, according to SCMP, pointed out that operating profit lagged expectations due to rising costs, and they still rate the stock as neutral.

Where did the ZTE phones go?

On our website, we wrote mainly about ZTE phones in the years 2020 to 2022. Axon 11 5G stood out with its curved display and good price, Axon 30 Ultra had 16 GB RAM and as much as 1 TB storage, and Axon 40 Ultra we tested in the newsroom as one of the first phones with a selfie camera hidden under the display. The highlight was a little later Axon 40 Ultra Aerospace edition with 18 GB RAM.

But the next Axon didn’t arrive, and fans gradually stopped talking about phones under the ZTE name. Today, the company mainly sells them under brands nubia and Red Magic, which are part of its group. That’s why nubia Z80 Ultra with a 35-millimeter camera and gaming phones Red Magic are better known here than actual ZTE. The brand also got hurt by the year 2018, when the US banned it for a few months from buying American components, and the ban was lifted only after a fine of billions of dollars.

Today it makes money on AI servers

Today, ZTE mainly supplies network and computing technology. In nine months, its servers, storage, and data center equipment brought more than 70% more money than last year and already account for 38 % of all revenue. Revenue from data center solutions alone grew by almost 130% as well. ZTE offers, for example, a system that combines 128 graphics cards into one unit and can be expanded into clusters with 100,000 cards.

Most of all, 39 % of revenue still comes from networks for telecom operators. Home devices—like routers, set-top boxes, or portable Wi-Fi hotspots—bring 16 % of revenue, and ZTE sells more than 100 million units of them annually, so it has been the world leader for the fifth year in a row. Personal devices, including phones, make up only 7 % of revenue, even though the company says smartphone revenue is growing at double-digit rates this year.

How is the ZTE stock doing?

The ZTE share price at the event clearly fluctuated on the stock exchange. In Hong Kong, it was HK$24.80 on 27 October 2021 (approximately €2.83), and during last year's AI boom it jumped to a high of $43.30 on 13 October (approximately €4.93). However, on 27 October 2026 it ended at $19.94 (approximately €2.27). So, since last year's peak, it has lost more than half of its value.

Anyone who bought ZTE stock exactly five years ago is now roughly 20 % down. Over that time, the company paid total dividends of approximately 2,71 Hong Kong dollars per share, but even with them the investment in Hong Kong dollars wouldn't be in profit and the loss would be around 9 %. On the other hand, anyone who bought at the bottom in year 2024, when the share was around 14 Hong Kong dollars, is significantly in profit. This is just a look back in time, not investment advice to buy or sell.

Did you ever have a ZTE phone?

We’re curious how many of you still remember ZTE phones—and how many of you used some. Vote in the poll and you’ll see the results right away.

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