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China becomes leading smartphone market

China has overtaken the US to become the world's largest smartphone market, recent figures have revealed.

Research conducted by Strategy Analytics found that smartphone shipments to China reached 24 million in the third quarter of 2011. This compares to the 23 million shipments recorded to the US.

It is thought that a different selection of products boosted the figures as a number of low-cost Android devices hit the market. Indeed, Tom Kang from the analysts firm, observed: “China's rapid growth has been driven by an increasing availability of smartphones in the retail channels.”

There has also been a push in China to encourage people to sign up for 3G services in the region. As use of this service increases, the number of people using smartphones has been predicted to rise even further.

In terms of companies, the market share is quite a mixed bag, but Nokia accounts for 28.5 per cent and Samsung has taken 17.6 per cent.

However, as more and more Chinese people start to invest in smartphones, it is likely that manufacturers will increase their efforts in the region to take advantage of the booming market.