After recently announcing a partnership with Sevilla FC, ZTE is continuing to expand its European sponsorship activities by signing a sponsorship agreement with top German football team Borussia Mönchengladbach.
Under the agreement, the telecoms company is now an official co-sponsor and smartphone partner of the Bundesliga stars. At a joint press conference held at BORUSSIA-PARK, ZTE presented its new smartphone models, ZTE Blade V7 and ZTE Blade V7 Lite, available from retailers starting in June.
Borussia Mönchengladbach and ZTE share common passions for sports, technology and their fans. Their partnership is designed to bring the two cultures together while unlocking key growth markets for both partners. For ZTE, the new involvement in Germany’s Bundesliga football league represents a step further in boosting its brand profile and cements the company’s commitment to its North Rhine Westphalia home. ZTE already employs a total of around 1,000 staff in Germany. The company’s headquarters is in Düsseldorf, close to Mönchengladbach. In Munich, ZTE also operates one of its seven design centers around the world, with a total of over 600 employees. Heading all the company’s locations is Stuttgart-born Hagen Fendler, Chief Design Officer at ZTE Corporation and visiting lecturer at the Industrial Design Faculty at Technische Universität München.
“By signing the agreement with Borussia Mönchengladbach, we have taken a major step toward expanding our position on the German market,” affirms Jacky Zhang, CEO of ZTE EMEA and APAC. “The partnership we have entered today underlines our aim to become a top player in the premiere league of smartphone manufacturers in the future.”
Stephan Schippers, CEO of Borussia Mönchengladbach, adds, “We regard China as a highly interesting market and aim to expand our growth there. For this reason, we are delighted to have ZTE on board as a partner that will introduce us to China’s culture. We are confident that both sides will benefit from the partnership.”
ZTE has long been one of the world’s largest mobile phone manufacturers, occupying seventh place globally in Counterpoint Technology Market Research’s ranking for 2016’s first quarter. Sales of smartphones in Germany skyrocketed by 400 percent last year.
ZTE Blade V7 and ZTE Blade V7 Lite – Lifestyle Series
ZTE also celebrated the German launch of its new smartphone models in the successful Blade series. Designed in Germany, the all-aluminium ZTE Blade V7 and ZTE Blade V7 Lite feature extra-slim bodies packed with cutting-edge technology.
The ZTE Blade V7 has a 13.2-cm (5.2”) display, powerful hardware and an array of sophisticated features. Its octa-core processor and 2 GB RAM guarantee speed, performance and flawless multitasking that are easily able to juggle multiple apps. The display offers crystal-clear full HD resolution, delivering images with rich contrast and detail (423 ppi) thanks to the LTPS (Low Temperature Poly Silicon) technology, which reaches higher pixel density and resolution at significantly lower power consumption than conventional TFT displays. The Blade V7 also incorporates a high-res 13-megapixel camera with phase detection autofocus and advanced SmartSense smart gesture control functions.
Although slightly smaller than its companion, with a 12.7 cm (5”) diagonal display, the ZTE Blade V7 Lite is crammed with functions that are usually only found in top-level models. For top security, the Blade V7 Lite’s round fingerprint scanner with 360-degree recognition unlocks the phone in a mere 0.3 seconds. A quad-core processor and 2-GB RAM ensure that all apps run smoothly. The ZTE Blade V7 Lite also has a powerful 13-megapixel camera with SmartSense smart gesture control, as well as an 8-megapixel front-facing camera for the perfect selfie.
Both devices operate on Android 6.0 Marshmallow and have a micro-SD slot enabling memory to be boosted up to 32 GB. The ZTE Blade V7 is available at specialist retailers from June at a price (RRP) of EUR 249 (incl. VAT), while the ZTE Blade V7 Lite will be available at the same time for EUR 169 RRP (incl. VAT).
