Worldwide sales of smartphones to end users totaled 968 million units in 2013, an increase of 42.3% from 2012, according to Gartner. Sales of smartphones accounted for 53.6% of overall mobile phone sales in 2013, and exceeded annual sales of feature phones for the first time.

　　Smartphone sales grew 36% from a year ago in the fourth quarter of 2013, and accounted for 57.6% of overall mobile phone sales compared to 44% during the same period of 2012, said IHS. This increasing contribution of smartphones was led by growth in Latin America, the Middle East and Africa, Asia/Pacific and Eastern Europe, where smartphone sales grew by more than 50% in the fourth quarter of 2013.

　　In the fourth quarter of 2013, mobile phone sales in mature regions fell due to weaker demand. "Mature markets face limited growth potential as the markets are saturated with smartphone sales, leaving little room for growth with declining feature phone market and a longer replacement cycle," said Anshul Gupta, principal research analyst at Gartner. "Lack of compelling hardware innovation has further exacerbated replacement cycles for high-end smartphones in 2013 because consumers don't find enough reasons to upgrade."

　　Top smartphone vendor Samsung Electronics saw its market share slip 1.6pp on year in the fourth quarter of 2013, mainly due to a saturated high-end smartphone market in developed regions, Gartner noted. It remains critical for Samsung to continue to build on its technology leadership at the high end. Samsung will also need to build a clearer value proposition around its midrange smartphones, defining simpler user interfaces, pushing the right features as well as seizing the opportunity of bringing innovations to stand out beyond price in this growing segment, Gartner said.

　　Strong sales of the iPhone 5s and continued strong demand for the 4s in emerging markets helped Apple see record sales of 50.2 million smartphones in the fourth quarter of 2013. "However, Apple's share in smartphone declined both in the fourth quarter of 2013 and in 2013, but growth in sales helped to raise share in the overall mobile phone market," said Gupta. "With Apple adding NTT DoCoMo in Japan for the first time in September 2013 and signing a deal with China Mobile during the quarter, we are already seeing an increased growth in the Japanese market and we should see the impact of the last deal in the first quarter of 2014."

　　Huawei saw its smartphone sales rise 85.3% from a year earlier in the fourth quarter of 2013, and maintained the No. 3 spot. Huawei has moved quickly to align its organization to focus on the global market, Gartner indicated. Huawei's overseas expansion delivered strong results in the fourth quarter of 2013, with growth in the Middle East and Africa, Asia/Pacific, Latin America and Europe.

　　Lenovo's smartphone sales increased by 63.1% on year in the fourth quarter of 2013. Lenovo's Motorola acquisition from Google will give Lenovo an opportunity to expand within the Americas, Gartner believes. "The acquisition will also provide Lenovo with patent protection and allow it to expand rapidly across the global market," said Gupta. "We believe this deal is not just about entering into the US, but more about stepping out of China."

　　Gartner expects smartphones to continue to drive overall mobile phone sales in 2014 and an increasing number of manufacturers will realign their portfolios to focus on the low-cost smartphone sector. Sales of high-end smartphones will slow as increasing sales of low- and mid-price smartphones in high-growth emerging markets will shift the product mix to lower-end devices. This will lead to a decline in average selling price and a slowdown in revenue growth.