China overtakes U.S. as largest smartphone market in third quarter

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For the first time, China surpassed the U.S. as the largest smartphone market in the world by unit shipments, according to a report from Strategy Analytics cited by PCMag.

The research firm said that nearly 24 million smartphones were shipped in China in the third quarter, compared with slightly more than 23 million units in the U.S. during the same time frame.

Nokia shipped 6.8 million smartphones to China in the quarter, making it the country’s market share leader with 28.5% of all unit shipments, the report said. Samsung shipped 4.2 million smartphones, a 17.6% market share.

In the U.S., HTC was the top source of smartphones in the third quarter, shipping 5.6 million units for a 24% share of the market. Apple shipped 4.8 million units, a 20.6% share.

PCMag quoted Neil Mawston, executive director of Strategy Analytics, as saying that China has become a growing smartphone market ‘that no hardware vendor, component maker or content developer can afford to ignore.’

Still, the U.S. remains the world’s largest smartphone market in terms of revenue, the research firm said.

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-- Andrea Chang