ZTE smartphones, much like most Chinese smartphones, have been running on Android. That though may be changing as rumours are going around that American telco company AT&T is thinking of partnering with both ZTE and Cyanogen to create a Cyanogen-powered ZTE phone.
First reported by The Information, AT&T is looking at developing an experimental phone that would allow it to push its own services in a more prominent way to mobile consumers than what Android or iOS would allow. The thinking behind this move is that it would be able to generate more revenue from consumer services on mobile devices.
Of course, this is all in the planning stages. ZTE has quite recently had trade sanctions place on it, so it’s hard to tell if this project would even get off the ground.
Should this project manage to move past the concept stages though, Cyanogen would stand to gain the most out of the partnership. Cyanogen was launched as an attempt to weaken Google’s hold over Android, and having a Cyanogen-powered phone that is being sold by one of America’s largest telco company could be the big break that the startup is looking for.
While the AT&T smartphone is aimed solely for the American market, it is entirely possible that future ZTE models worldwide could adopt Cyanogen as their OS of choice if this partnership proves fruitful.
Source: The Information