Can ZTE get Western customers with the newly announced nubia Z7 phones?

You may’ve missed it, but the other day – ZTE unveiled a trio of nubia Z7 smartphones. The nubia Z7, nubia Z7 Max and nubia Z7 Mini all rock Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 801 quad-core chip, 13-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and f/2.0 aperture, 5-megapixel front-facing camera, 4G LTE connectivity and dual-SIM support.

There are some difference, as well. For one thing, only the “regular” nubia Z7 has a QHD (2560 x 1440 pixels) screen (with a 5.5-inch diagonal), while the other two variants top at full HD (1920 x 1080 pixels) — nubia Z7 Max has a 5.5-inch display whereas the Mini boasts a 5-inch screen. Moreover, the nubia Z7 has a camera with Optical Image Stabilization, while the Max and Mini use software tricks to accomplish the same thing.

The ZTE nubia Z7 comes in white, the Max variant will be available in black and white, while the Mini will sell in lime green, primrose yellow, pink and bright moon white colors.

All in all, the new nubia Z7 trio seems well poised to compete with comparable devices made by the likes of Samsung, LG and Motorola; but will the Chinese firm actually take that route?

Honestly, we’re not sure. If we can learn anything from the past, it’s not that easy to enter the North American and European markets. Sure enough, ZTE is already selling a number of different phones to Americans and Europeans, but the vast majority of these are low-to-mid range devices. In the high-end of the market the situation is very different, with well-known brands dominating the landscape.

Also worth adding is the case of the previous nubia (Z5) phones; they launched in the U.S. long after they were considered cool. In that sense, if ZTE doesn’t bring the new nubia Z7 range to the West in the next few weeks, it may be better off missing the opportunity altogether. Or so we think.

I would assume the Chinese vendor has hard time dealing with mobile operators, which control a vast majority of every market. Perhaps they could invest in sales… Or perhaps, ZTE has a different strategy. You see, most ZTE customers come from China and maybe they’re turning to the West only when their local audience is “properly served.”

In any case, we would love to see more competition in every segment of the market, let alone high-end. By introducing more options to consumers, the prices will inevitably go down. And that’s a good thing, right? 😉