Andre Yoskowitz
29 Oct 2011 14:45
China-based mobile phone maker ZTE has passed Apple to jump into fourth place.
ZTE shipped 18 million mobile phones in the Q3, just ahead of Apple's 17.1 million, says Strategy Analytics.
Despite seeing negative growth, Nokia remained the top vendor at 106.6 million.
Samsung came in second at 88 million, thanks to strong smartphone growth.
LG managed to hold to third despite a huge decline to 21.1 million handsets shipped.
Says the research firm:
Despite ongoing economic volatility, global handset shipments grew a relatively healthy 14 percent annually to reach 390 million units in Q3 2011. ZTE was the star performer as it captured 5 percent market share and overtook Apple to become the world?s fourth largest handset vendor. ZTE?s growth is being driven by competitive pricing of entry-level models for feature phones and Android smartphones.