China's smartphone firms warned of patent disputes

Beijing: China's smartphone companies are at risk of becoming embroiled in disputes over intellectual property rights since many important patents are held by international companies like Google and Microsoft, experts have said.
In 2005, international mobile phone-makers occupied over half the Chinese market. But in 2011, China shipped 455 million mobile phones, among which domestic brands made up 72 percent.
Telecommunications experts have warned Chinese companies that they may be hit with charges of violating intellectual property rights, the China Daily reported.
The Mobile Terminal White Paper, issued by the China Academy of Telecommunication Research, a branch under the ministry of industry and information technology, said China shipped more than 110 million smartphones in 2011.
"As more Chinese mobile phones pour into the global market, it is much more likely that international rivals will use intellectual property rights as a weapon in competition," said Xu Zhiyuan, an engineer at the China Academy of Telecommunication Research.
"Chinese companies should watch out," the daily quoted him as saying.
China is the world's largest producer of mobile devices. In 2011, it produced 1.13 billion mobile devices, including mobile phones and tablet computers.
The report said domestic brands like ZTE Corp, Huawei Technologies Co Ltd and Lenovo Group Ltd have made significant progress in producing mobile phones.
ZTE's mobile device business earned around 27 billion yuan (over $4 billion) in 2011.