Smartphone sales touch 968 mn in 2013

The worldwide sales of smartphones grew 42% to 968 mn units in 2013, according to Gartner Inc.

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.

This growth was led by countries such as Latin America, the Middle East and Africa, Asia/Pacific, and Eastern Europe.

Smartphone sales grew 36% in the fourth quarter of 2013 and accounted for 57.6% of overall mobile phone sales in the fourth quarter, up from 44% year over year.

With a 166.8% increase in the fourth quarter of 2013, India recorded the highest smartphone sales growth among the countries tracked by Gartner.

China also contributed significantly to worldwide smartphone sales as sales grew 86.3% in 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.