The European Union may be trying to protect its telecom equipment industry with its recent threat to investigate China over networking equipment imports. But the move could end up hurting the chances of Western vendors intent on supplying technology to China's upcoming 4G services launch, according to analysts.

The European Union is preparing to investigate the imports of mobile networking gear from China for anti-competitive practices, a move that's likely targeted at telecommunications equipment companies Huawei Technologies and ZTE.

Apple retook its spot as China's fifth largest smartphone vendor in the first quarter, as the country's market grew to triple the size of the U.S.'s.

LG Electronics more that doubled its sales of smartphones in the first quarter, which was the first time smartphones outsold feature phones, according to market research company IDC.

Microsoft has inked an agreement with China's ZTE for its Android and Chrome patent licensing program.