China-based ZTE Corporation, a leading provider of telecommunications equipment and network solutions, will launch its cloud-based applications store iMarket at the telecoms industry’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next week.

ZTE said the company developed the iMarket at a time when content and applications (apps) continue to grow in importance for mobile device users.

The company aims to establish a strong position as a provider of operator services and devices, as well as offer operators a converged trading and services platform that can become a core part of their business.

Operators can in turn give their customers access to a vast range of applications and content such as videos, games, animations and books, said a ZTE statement.

Unlike other online application stores, the ZTE iMarket will not only be able to run on the existing terminals like handsets, PCs, but also the tablets (known in the industry as quadruple screens), it added.

The ZTE iMarket is also a cloud-based service. Operators simply manage their own-branded delivery services and content through the iMarket platform.

Depending on the type of content the user wants to use, all ZTE iMarket products can either be downloaded and used offline, or experienced online.

ZTE said it can provide operators with platform deployment, operation consultancy and software applications according to the individual operators’ requirements.

Many middle/small operators are expected to take advantage of the applications store services to expand and develop their business, said a top official.

ZTE vice president and general manager of Services Products Yu Yifang pointed out that the company had made major investments in the development of cloud computing, and mobile Internet applications including the 'Internet of Things' in recent years.

"In 2010, ZTE Internet of Things was deployed at Expo 2010 Shanghai and received a CDMA Development Group Award. ZTE iMarket is a continuation of those significant developments," he revealed.

ZTE iMarket is already in commercial use with the world’s largest WCDMA operator, China Unicom. The two companies are co-operating on a wide range of programmes including services design, services operations and developer recruitment.-TradeArabia News Service