ZTE Corp, China's second-largest maker of phone equipment, said it plans to boost smartphone shipments by 50 percent this year with a focus on high-end phones that run on fourth-generation, long-term evolution, networks.

ZTE's smartphone shipments more than doubled to 35 million units last year, from 15.8 million in 2011, Lu Qianhao, global marketing director at ZTE's handset division, said at a briefing in Hong Kong on Wednesday.

The company, based in Shenzhen, is counting on increased sales of smartphones in developed markets such as the US, Europe and Japan to help it return to profitability this year after its first estimated annual loss in at least 17 years.