ZTE to release mobile system to rival Android

ZTE Corp, China's second-largest maker of phone equipment, will release a new mobile operating system with the developer of the Firefox web browser to compete with Google Inc's Android software.

The software will be available in the fourth quarter, ZTE Executive Vice-President He Shiyou told a briefing in Beijing on Wednesday.

Mozilla Corp makes Firefox.

ZTE is in talks with overseas carriers to offer devices with the new operating system to reduce its reliance on Android as it expects smartphone sales to double this year amid market-share gains in Europe, North America, Brazil and Japan.

ZTE is expanding into mobile devices and cloud computing, where sales growth is faster than it is in its traditional equipment business as the pace of new network rollouts slows. "We will not rely on only one operating system," He said.