Sales of smartphones in the China market are expected to top 436 million units in 2014, with local handset suppliers shipping 279 million units. Shipments of international players will account for 158 million units, up 3% from a year earlier, according to Digitimes Research.

　　China-based vendors will also ship a total of 407 million smartphones worldwide in 2014, increasing 28% from a year ago. Among total shipments, overseas shipments will reach 128 million, with shipments to emerging markets showing significant growth.

　　Lenovo and Huawei are expected to ship 50 million smartphones each in 2014, with Huawei having a higher export ratio as compared to Lenovo's. ZTE and Coolpad each will ship 37 million units, while TCL will take the fifth position with shipments totaling 26 million units.

　　Second-tier vendors including Gionee, Xiaomi Technology and OPPO will ramp up their shipments to 20 million units, respectively, in 2014, Digitimes Research estimated.