History Made As Smartphones Sell More Than Feature Phones

History has been made as smartphones have sold more then feature phones according to research firm IDC. The report says a total of 418.6 million mobile phones were shipped in Q1 2013, out of which 216.2 million were smartphones, meaning 51.6 per cent of the total sales.

"Phone users want computers in their pockets. The days where phones are used primarily to make phone calls and send text messages are quickly fading away," said IDC analyst Kevin Restivo

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"As a result, the balance of smartphone power has shifted to phone makers that are most dependent on smartphones." he added.

As expected Samsung sold the most no of smartphones at 70.7 million units, while Apple came in at second and shipped 37.4 million iPhones. LG after after a long hybernation, emerged the third highest seller, as it sold a 10.3 million units.

The smartphone market has been on a boom in developing countries such as China, India and Indonesia, which has led to shift in global majority said IDC analyst Ramon Llamas.

There has also been a new trend emerging in the mobile industry, Chinese mobile companies such as Huawei and ZTE are kicking things a notch. In-fact Huawei has sold 9.9 million units in Q1 of 2013, shooting it up to the 4th position, while ZTE comes in at 5th, selling 9.1 million unts.

"A year ago, it was common to see previous market leaders Nokia, BlackBerry, and HTC among the top five," said Llama.

"While those companies have been in various stages of transformation since, Chinese vendors, including Huawei and ZTE as well as Coolpad and Lenovo, have made significant strides to capture new users with their respective Android smartphones," he added.

Source pcmag, Times Of India