Huawei expects LTE revenues to amount to US$2 billion in 2013

Huawei expects to generate at least US$2 billion in revenues from selling LTE equipment this year thanks to on-going network upgrades.

Huawei, and local rival, ZTE secured about half of China Mobile’s initial US$3.2 billion 4G deployment contract, with a second similar sized contract expected to be awarded next year.

Peter Zhou, executive vice president for the LTE business unit at Huawei told the Reuters news agency that the cost of smartphones would have to fall though before the technology can become a mainstream service.

"The price of LTE smartphones is still higher than those without LTE technology. This is normal," he said. "We foresee that around 2015, a multi-mode smartphone, which includes LTE, will be very similar or equal to the price of a (usual) smartphone."