Continued demand for affordable smartphones in emerging markets drove worldwide sales of smartphones in the third quarter of 2015, with Huawei to record the highest growth in mobile phone and smartphone sales, according to Gartner, Inc. Global sales of smartphones to end users totaled 353 million units, a 15.5 percent growth over the same period in 2014.

"The availability of affordable smartphones in emerging markets saw consumers upgrade their 'feature phones' to smartphones more quickly because of the small price gap," said Anshul Gupta, research director at Gartner. "Smartphone sales in emerging markets rose to 259.7 million in the third quarter of 2015 - an 18.4 percent growth over the third quarter of 2014 - while sales in mature markets saw growth of just 8.2 percent over the same period."

In the third quarter of 2015, Samsung refreshed its flagship devices just four months after its previous refresh to address slowing demand for its high-end devices, and further compete with Apple's large-screen iPhones. Apple continued its dominance in the premium segment of the smartphone market with its iPhone 6 and 6 Plus models for most of the third quarter of 2015. The global launch of the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus during the last week of September 2015, along with the simultaneous launch in China, further added to its overall sales during the quarter. Huawei continued its growth momentum, driven by smartphone sales in both its home market and global markets, particularly Europe, where sales were driven by its ever-growing brand visibility.

Worldwide Smartphone Sales to End Users by Vendor in 3Q15 (Thousands of Units)

Source: Gartner (November 2015)

In the smartphone operating system (OS) market, Apple's iOS continued to see strong performance and grew 21 per cent, above market average. Android gained 1.4 percentage points in share year over year thanks to strong smartphone sales from Samsung and Huawei globally. Windows smartphone market share dropped from 3 percent to 1.7 percent year over year.

Worldwide Smartphone Sales to End Users by Operating System in 3Q15 (Thousands of Units)

Source: Gartner (November 2015)

Worldwide mobile phone sales to end users totaled nearly 478 million units during the third quarter of 2015, an increase of 3.7 percent from the same period in 2014. Continued growth in emerging markets helped bolster sales of local brands. As a result, Micromax Informatics cemented its place among the top 10 global mobile phone vendors worldwide, while Chinese brands such as ZTE, Huawei, Xiaomi, TCL Communication Technology, Oppo and BBK became increasingly aggressive in the emerging markets.

Worldwide Mobile Phone Sales to End Users by Vendor in 3Q15 (Thousands of Units)

Source: Gartner (November 2015)