China overtakes US as world's largest smartphone market

[Archean]

China has become the world's largest smartphone market by volume after it overtook the US in the third quarter. Smartphone shipments to China rose to a record 24m during the period, compared with 23m for the US, according to research done by Strategy Analytics.

The consultancy said shipments to China were boosted by "a wave of low-cost Android models from local Chinese brands". This is the first time that China has overtaken the US in smartphone market.

The company said that while shipments to China grew by 58% sequentially during the period, those to the US fell by 7%.