Smartphones outperformed feature phones for the first time during the first three months of this year.
This is according to new figures from the International Data Corporation (IDC), which revealed in its Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker that vendors sold 216.2 million smartphones in the first quarter of 2013, making up over half (51.6 per cent) of total phone shipments.
It was also discovered the smartphone market grew 41.6 per cent compared to the same time in 2012, but was 5.1 per cent lower than the 227.8 million units shipped in the fourth quarter of the year.
Senior research analyst at IDC Kevin Restivo said the days where phones were primarily used to make calls and send texts are quickly fading away.
He remarked: “As a result, the balance of smartphone power has shifted to phone makers that are most dependent on smartphones.”
The expert also noted several Chinese firms are emerging to compete with previous market leaders like Apple and Samsung.
Indeed, Huawei in particular was found to have nearly doubled its unit shipments to regions outside of Asia-Pacific during the quarter in comparison to the same period last year.