China Unicom has teamed up with Spanish mobile carrier Telefonica to jointly procure smartphones for customers in China, Latin America and Europe.
In a statement, the companies said they have entered into a strategic procurement collaboration program for select smartphones based on shared specifications.
The collaboration program is aimed at helping both companies deliver richer data services to a broader group of their consumers in China, Latin America and Europe, the companies noted.
The first joint procurement project has been successfully completed on 4G smartphones from two Chinese handset makers Lenovo and TCL.
“As a result of a series of joint processes since the end of 2014, including joint industrial trends research, joint product specifications, and joint global RFQ negotiations, it has been possible to achieve important economies of scale to acquire cost-effective smartphones,” the companies said in the statement.
The 4G smartphones will be available for consumers in the second half of 2015 in China, Europe and Latin America, and both operators have developed specific consumer propositions and go-to-market plans in all countries to maximize their potential.
The companies said this project is the first of many procurement activities and the pair is also set to work on other joint strategic initiatives.
Telefonica currently owns 2.5% stake in Unicom after the former divested half of its shares back in November 2014 for nearly $860 million.