Over 347 million smartphones were shipped in the first quarter of 2017, higher by 4.3 per cent from the same period last year, research firm IDC said.
While the growth dipped to low single digit for the first time, the first quarter numbers indicate that the industry could show some rebound in 2017, as per IDC's preliminary data.
The growth rate of 4.3 per cent is slightly higher than IDC's previous forecast of 3.6 per cent.
"The first quarter smartphone results further prove that the smartphone industry is not dead and that growth still exists ... we believe the industry will show some rebound in 2017, and the strong first quarter results certainly support this argument," IDC program vice-president Ryan Reith said.
While there are many premium re-designed flagships that have entered the market, IDC said going ahead, most of the growth would come from more affordable models in a variety of markets.
Samsung continued to lead the tally with 22.8 per cent share, followed by Apple (14.9 per cent), Huawei (9.8 per cent), Oppo (7.4 per cent) and Vivo (5.2 per cent).
