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Smartphone Shipments Grew by 30 Percent in Q1

The mobile communications sector continues to advance -- with new handheld devices driving mobile internet usage. Juniper Research estimates that the number of smartphone shipments reached almost 200 million in Q1 2013, representing a growth of 30 percent from the same quarter in 2012.

Samsung increased its smartphone market share by shipping an estimated 68 million smartphones and accounting for approximately 34 percent of all smartphone shipments in the quarter.

Samsung announced a steady pace in sales of the Galaxy SIII, and improved sales of the Note II for the quarter.

However, despite profits falling for the first time in a decade for Apple, they posted better than expected iPhone sales at around 37.4 million -- that's 7 percent growth compared to the same quarter in 2012.

With another product due soon, Juniper has joined other industry analysts who believe that Apple needs to innovate. The next product release must help Apple maintain their market position. Moreover, they'll need to ensure that they have a viable offer for emerging markets -- because that's where the upside growth resides.

LG posted its highest ever smartphones sales quarter, shipping 10.3 million in Q1 2013, driven by sales of the Optimus G and Nexus 4. The company improved its smartphone market share from last quarter to reach just over 5 percent.

Huawei, which previously posted impressive sales in 2012 with the introduction of a range of new smartphones and tablets, shipped an estimated 10 million smartphones. The company along with ZTE accounted for approximately 10 percent of the shipments market.

Nokia shipped 6.1 million smart devices in the fourth quarter and posted higher Lumia sales of 5.6 million compared to the previous quarter -- that's a 27 percent rise.

Recent results from BlackBerry are expected to account for almost 6 million smartphone shipments for Q1 2013. The Canadian company sold 1 million new BlackBerry 10 devices.

Despite a positive start, Juniper says that the BlackBerry and Nokia ecosystem will indeed need some more time to grow and drive further competition and innovation within the smartphone and OS marketplace.

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