China's Huawei and ZTE plan to sell their own-branded mobile phones in India, deviating from the present practice of bundled sales with the local mobile service operators, India's Business Standard reported on September 26. The two companies plan to offer own-branded phones for both CDMA and GSM systems.

Huawei was scheduled to start retail of its own-branded phones on September 29. The company projects that 80% of its mobile phones will be sold under the Huawei brand in 2009. ZTE has established tie-ups with Indian mobile operators including Reliance Communications, Tata Teleservices, Vodafone, Spice Telecom, and Aircel for the sales of its mobile phones. The company plans to start retail of its own-branded phones in India by year-end 2008, following the launch in China and the United States.