A survey conducted by market research firm IDC shows that 1.004 billion devices were delivered to customers during the course of the year, a 38.4 percent increase on 2012’s results. This means that smartphones made up considerably more than half of the 1.8 billion phones sold in total.
"Among the top trends driving smartphone growth are large screen devices and low cost," said Ryan Reith, program director with IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker. "Of the two, I have to say that low cost is the key difference-maker. 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."
The last year also saw Samsung extending its lead as the world’s biggest vendor, with Apple and China’s Huawei trailing behind. According to the survey Samsung’s dominance in the market increased by 42.9 percent, a result that was in stark contrast to that of its rival Apple, which posted slower growth than the overall market at 12.9 percent.
