Global smartphone shipments have surpassed one billion mark with 1.004 billion smartphones shipped in 2013 for the first time, recording 38.4% rise in sales over previous year, a new IDC report revealed.
The latest Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker from IDC revealed that Samsung led the global smartphone market with 313.9 million devices shipped, followed by Apple (153.4 million), Huawei (48.8 million), LG (47.7 million) and Lenovo (45.5 million).
Samsung improved its market dominance with 42.9% growth, while Apple reported drop in its market share, as it posted slower growth compared to overall market , with 12.9% growth during the year.
IDC Mobile Phone team research manager Ramon Llamas said that the sheer volume and strong growth attest to the smartphone’s continued popularity in 2013.
"Total smartphone shipments reached 494.4 million units worldwide in 2011, and doubling that volume in just two years demonstrates strong end-user demand and vendor strategies to highlight smartphones," Llamas said.
During the year, about 1.8218 billion mobile phones (inclusive of smartphones) were shipped , reporting 4.8% increase compared to 1.7381 billion devices shipped the previous year, the report added.
Global mobile phone shipments during the 4Q13 reached 488.4 million units, up 0.9% from the 484.0 million units shipped during the corresponding quarter the earlier year.
IDC Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker programme director Ryan Reith said that among the top trends driving smartphone growth are large screen devices and low cost.
"Of the two, I have to say that low cost is the key difference maker," Reith said.
"Cheap devices are not the attractive segment that normally grabs headlines, but IDC data shows this is the portion of the market that is driving volume.
"Markets like China and India are quickly moving toward a point where sub-$150 smartphones are the majority of shipments, bringing a solid computing experience to the hands of many.
