ZTE has poured a significant portion of its U.S. marketing budget into sponsoring NBA teams. ZTE began last season by sponsoring the Houston Rockets, the hometown team of ZTE’s U.S. operations. This year they added sponsorships in two other big markets: San Francisco’s Golden State Warriors and the New York Knicks.

As for the success, it’s somewhat hard to measure. However, ZTE is slowly gaining some name recognition and market share in U.S market.  It's currently hold about a 6-percent of the U.S. market,putting it fourth behind Apple, Samsung and LG. However, its gains have mostly been at the low end of the market, areas where price and features trump brand recognition.

ZTE’s new tagline – Tomorrow Never Waits – was unveiled at the Warriors game.  Cheng says that basketball is big in China and that he himself is a big fan.  He also let it out that a second-generation product will be unveiled at CES in Las Vegas.

Original title by: Recode.net,ZTE Looks to NBA Team Sponsorships for Marketing Assist