Chinese vendor ZTE announced this morning that it had shipped 60 million terminal products in the first half of the year – including 35 million handsets – and says it is on track to beat its 2011 shipment targets. The figures represent a 30 percent increase year-on-year in handsets shipped, as well as a 400 percent increase in smartphones sales. ZTE said it sold 5 million smart devices – including 2.5 million Blade handsets – and is forecasting to ship 12 million smart terminals in the second half of the year.

An executive told Reuters that the firm is now confident it will beat its 2011 target of shipping 80 million mobile devices and is looking to make the US its top market in three to five years. "Success in the United States is the proof required to say you have global success," said He Shiyou, executive vice president of ZTE and head of the firm's terminals division.

According to Reuters, the US formed 10 percent of ZTE's handset business in 2010, behind Europe which makes up 15-20 percent and China at 35 percent. But ZTE said that today’s 1H 2011 figures represent a 300 percent increase in handset shipments in the US year-on-year, buoyed by its partnerships with tier-one operators such as T-Mobile USA, AT&T and Sprint.

In Europe, ZTE said it is partnering with over 65 operators on smartphones, with its handset sales increasing over 30 percent in the region in the same time period. In China, ZTE’s handset business is growing at a rate of over 20 percent. Sales of its Blade smartphone (pictured) in China “are the nation’s highest for Android smartphones,” the firm claims, averaging 16,000 units per day.

“We aim to launch over 30 smart terminals during the remainder of 2011, including middle to high-end smartphones such as SKATE, Windows Phone 7 and TD-LTE dual-module and dual-waiting models,” said He Shiyou.

ZTE’s Chinese rival Huawei last week reported sales of US$4.2 billion in the Jan-June period, with global shipments of mobile phones, tablets and wireless datacards increasing by nearly 40 percent to 72 million units. It is aiming to ship 20 million smartphones this year, higher than a previous target of 12-15 million units.