Worldwide sales of smartphones totaled 330 million units in the second quarter of 2015, an increase of 13.5% on-year, which was the lowest quarterly growth rate since 2013, according to Gartner.

While demand for lower-cost 3G and 4G smartphones continued to drive growth in emerging markets, overall smartphone sales remained mixed region-by-region in the second quarter, said the firm.

Emerging Asia/Pacific markets (excluding China), Eastern Europe and Middle East and Africa were the fastest-growing regions. By contrast, smartphone sales in China fell 4% on year in the second quarter, for the first annual decline ever, Gartner said.

By brands, Samsung saw its market share decline 4.3pp on year to 21.9% and sales volume drop 5.3% to 72.072 million units in the second quarter.

Huawei recorded the highest sales growth rate of 46.3% to 25.825 million units, thanks to strong overseas sales and 4G smartphone sales in China.

Sales of iPhone devices increased 36% to 48.085 million units, which helped Apple gain 2.4pp in market share to 14.6% in the quarter.