Samsung beats Apple to lead global smartphone market share

More than one billion smartphones were shipped last year, with Samsung leading the global market share, according to IDC.

The South Korean firm accounted for 31.3% of all smartphone sales in 2013 – almost more than double the share that Apple took (15.3%).

The report states that Samsung extended its market dominance with 42.9% growth, while Apple’s extended by just 12.9%.

Huawei came in third (4.9%) followed by LF (4.8%) and Lenovo (4.5%).

Ryan Reith, program director of IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker said that large screens and low costs are among the top trends driving smartphone growth.

“Of the two, I have to say that low cost is the key difference-maker,” he said. “Cheap devices are not the attractive segment that normally grabs headlines, but IDC data shows this is the portion of the market that is driving volume.”