Global shipments of smartphones in the first quarter of this year reached almost 200-million, an increase of 30% year-on-year, estimates mobile analyst firm Juniper Research.

Samsung enjoyed the greatest share of the market, shipping an estimated 68-million smartphones and accounting for around 34% of all consignments in the quarter.

This was largely driven by a steady pace in sales of the Galaxy S III and higher sales of the Galaxy Note II.

Despite profits falling for the first time in a decade for mobile developer Apple, the company posted better-than-expected iPhone sales of around 37.4-million, a 7% increase compared with the first quarter of last year.

“With another product cycle to be released soon, Apple needs to innovate, with the next product release being critical in maintaining their position as innovation leaders,” Juniper cautioned, adding that the company would need to ensure its products were attractive to emerging markets.

The Second Battle for Market Share
LG, meanwhile, posted its highest ever smartphone sales quarter, shipping 10.3-million phones in the three months, driven by sales of its Optimus G and Nexus 4 products.

The company improved its smartphone market share from last quarter to reach just over 5%.

Huawei, which posted impressive sales in 2012 with the introduction of a range of new smartphones and tablets, shipped an estimated ten-million smartphones during the first quarter of this year.

Huawei’s sales, along with those of China's second-largest telecoms gear maker ZTE, accounted for about 10% of the shipments market.

Nokia shipped 6.1-million smart devices in the first quarter and posted higher Lumia sales of 5.6-million compared to the previous quarter, which represented a 27% rise.

BlackBerry’s recent results, which ran to a different financial schedule, were expected to account for nearly six-million smartphone shipments for the first quarter, with the Canadian company having sold some one-million new Blackberry 10 devices.

“Despite a positive start, the BlackBerry and Nokia ecosystem will indeed need more time to grow and drive further competition and innovation within the smartphone and operating system marketplace,” Juniper noted.