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ZTE said its position in China’s network equipment market remained stable, while computing-related opportunities linked to the construction of intelligent computing resource pools provided an additional source of growth
In sum – what to know:
Computing accelerates – Computing revenue rose more than 55%, reaching 35.1% of total revenue, with server and storage up nearly 60% and data center solutions above 90%.
Carrier spending weakens – Operator Network revenue fell under pressure from declining domestic telecommunications investment, although the business remained ZTE’s largest segment at 40.7% of revenue.
AI infrastructure expands – ZTE reported growing demand for servers, storage and data center solutions, including from Chinese internet and enterprise customers and international markets.
Chinese vendor ZTE reported record first-half revenue of CNY 78.03 billion (11.6 billion), up 9% year-on-year, as growth in computing, international markets, and personal devices offset weaker investment by domestic telecom operators.
Net profit attributable to shareholders reached CNY 2.75 billion, while net profit after extraordinary items was CNY 2.22 billion. ZTE said both revenue and net profit increased sequentially in the second quarter, while operating cash flow turned positive.
The vendor’s revenue mix continued to shift toward computing. Computing revenue increased by more than 55% year-on-year in H1 and accounted for 35.1% of total revenue in the period. Within the segment, server and storage revenue rose nearly 60%, while data center solutions revenue increased more than 90%.
The stronger computing performance helped offset pressure in ZTE’s traditional operator business. Operator Network revenue was CNY 31.77 billion in the first half, equivalent to 40.7% of total revenue. Domestic revenue in the segment remained under pressure as Chinese carriers continued to reduce infrastructure investment.
ZTE said its position in China’s network equipment market remained stable, while computing-related opportunities linked to the construction of intelligent computing resource pools provided an additional source of growth. Internationally, the company continued to focus on major operators and key markets, with activity across Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa.
Overall international revenue rose 33.1% to CNY 27.87 billion, representing 35.7% of group revenue. ZTE attributed the increase to 5G rollouts, fiber deployments, and demand for AI computing infrastructure, as well as business from Chinese companies expanding overseas.
The Asian vendor said its servers, storage, data center switches, and data center solutions had reached scaled deployments across sectors including internet services, finance, power and the public sector in China. It is also expanding these offerings in emerging markets including Southeast Asia and Latin America.
ZTE is developing computing infrastructure around AI workloads, including the OEX-architecture SuperPod and an AIDC solution combining computing, power, and energy-storage elements. The company said its computing strategy involves system-level optimization across chips, servers, software and energy.
The results show a company increasingly reliant on computing and enterprise infrastructure for growth as domestic telecom capital expenditure remains subdued. Computing now represents more than one-third of revenue, while data center solutions are growing substantially faster than the group as a whole.
According to a recent Omdia report, ZTE ranked fourth in the global RAN market by revenue at the end of the first half of 2026, behind Huawei, Ericsson and Nokia and ahead of Samsung. Excluding China, ZTE ranked fifth. In Asia and Oceania, ZTE ranked second.
