ZTE Corp has agreed to buy chipsets worth at least US$5 billion from Qualcomm Inc and Broadcom Corp over the next several years, China's second-largest telecom equipment maker has said.

From 2012 to 2015, Shenzhen-listed ZTE will buy at least US$4 billion worth of chipsets from US-based Qualcomm, which also designs chips for other vendors, including Amazon's Kindle, the Chinese company said on Monday.

Between 2012 and 2014, ZTE will buy US-based Broadcom's products worth US$1 billion.

ZTE predicted that its spending on Qualcomm and Broadcom may surge more than 50 percent in 2012, the company said, without providing more details.

It said recently that its smartphone sales may double this year as they gain market shares in Europe, North America, Brazil and Japan.

Last month, ZTE and Sweden's Ericsson AB agreed to withdraw patent lawsuits against each other, which may open doors for ZTE to expand globally.

According to another statement, ZTE also denied it was ordered to pay 500 million euros (US$380 million) to Ericsson and was banned from the European market.

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