Looks like ZTE is gaining ground, this aggressive Chinese Smartphone manufacturer has overtaken HTC has as the world’s 4th largest Smartphone vendor. A recent study shows that in Q3 of 2012 ZTE shipped 7.5 Million Smartphones thanks to international diversification efforts in Q3. ZTE has now achieved significant uptake in developed countries with 35 percent of its overall Smartphone shipments being sold in leading international markets, like the US.

ZTE has really come out swinging with it Grand Series of Smartphones, the quad-core Grand Era, the dual core Grand X, and the Intel powered Grand X In along side the world’s slimmest Quad-core Smartphone, Grand Era U985 have been the handsets driving their business forward.

The IDC report, Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, shows ZTE moving from 5th place to 4th over taking RIM by only 0.1 percentage points between them.

If this wasn’t proof enough that you should be keeping an eye on ZTE I’m not sure what would be.