Chinese smartphone manufacturer, ZTE, has set some hefty goals for the coming years. First up, the company has reaffirmed its sales estimates for 2012, with executives believing ZTE could hit the number-three position among smartphone manufacturers within the next three years.

ZTE's 2012 target is 35 million shipped units, with the company already shipping 19.8 million units in the first quarter of this year alone, though that estimate does include non-smartphone units. In 2011, ZTE shipping 15 million smartphones, thanks to their popularity in Asian markets.

Executives believe by the time 2015 arrives, ZTE should be shipping 100 million smartphones per year, which might be enough to propel the company to the number-three position behind second runner Samsung, and pack leader, Apple. In order to achieve this, ZTE plans to invest heavily into developing markets, with just half of their units going to the US, Europe and Japan.

In order to improve its positioning in development markets, the company is looking to reshape their brand image in those regions, where pushing higher-end smartphones would help to combat Apple and Samsung.