Chinese mobile device maker ZTE is partnering with China’s largest online direct sales company JD.com to sell smartphones to Russians. "We are committed to developing our brand and delivering innovative user experiences for our rapidly growing base of smartphone customers in Russia. To up our game, we have increased our marketing investment in Russia by 350 percent this year," said Jacky Zhang, CEO of Asia Pacific & Commonwealth of Independent States, ZTE Mobile Device.
ZTE’s Blade S6 will be the first ZTE device to debut JD.com’s global e-commerce platform for Russia. Customers will be able to purchase an upgraded version of the Blade S6 preloaded with Eyeprint ID eye-based biometric solution that allows users to unlock the Blade S6 with an eye scan. The Blade S6 with Eyeprint ID will be priced at $199.00 and will be available for immediate purchase when JD.com’s platform for Russia goes live on June 18.

In addition to JD.com, ZTE has a strong network of global and local partners in Russia, including online names, such as Yandex and AliExpress. Offline, over ten thousand retail outlets in Russia sell ZTE smartphones, including MegaFon, MTS, DNS, Svyaznoy and Beeline.

ZTE is also investing to promote its own brand and will bring more of its star products to the Russia market. First quarter 2015 smartphone shipments to Russia were up 35 percent year-on-year and smartphone active users have exceeded 1.5 million.