The smartphone is expected to arrive in the US in the following weeks

Jul 3, 2012 18:31 GMT  ·  By

Chinese handset maker ZTE is mostly known for its cheap mobile phones. ZTE, just like Huawei, is one of those companies that builds handsets for other brands and carriers.

This time, however, ZTE plans to launch its own Windows Phone device in the United States and probably in other regions as well.

The folks over at GSMInsider have just learned that a certain ZTE N859 has been recently approved by FCC (Federal Communications Commission), which points to a possible US release within the next few weeks.

It appears that ZTE N859 is powered by Windows Phone 7.5 Mango and features CDMA-only support, but other than these, there is no additional detail.

For the time being, no US-based carrier has mentioned this smartphone, so it will be interesting to see if the ZTE N859 is released ahead of Windows Phone 8 Apollo launch and which operator (s) carries it.