China's Nubia becomes independent from ZTE to gain traction in smartphone market

China's Nubia is being spun off as an independent brand to tap the high-end smartphone market but will maintain close links to its parent company, telecoms giant ZTE.

Now known as Nubia Technology, it will strive to be more customer-oriented in a bid to compete with leading global players like Apple and Samsung, Li Qiang, its president and brand founder, said on Wednesday in Beijing.

“We aim to become a well-known international brand. But we are not trying to follow Apple. We want to be ourselves,” Li said.

He said Nubia is not severing ties with ZTE. Rather, their relationship is now akin to the ties linking German auto brands Audi and Porsche to their parent company Volkswagen.

“ZTE still owns 90 per cent of our stocks. Nubia is part of the big ZTE family,” said Li.

Nubia was founded in 2012 as ZTE Mobile Telecom Ltd., Co. It launched several smartphone models, including its Z7, Z9 and Z9 Max, offering high-definition images on par with a single-lens reflex camera, the company claimed.