Global smartphone sales post slowest growth since 2008:Gartner

Huawei performed particularly well, showing a 53 percent increase in sales compared to the previous year as it focused entirely on selling smartphones.

While affordability is a key engine of the remaining smartphone market growth, Gartner also views channel strategy and knowledge of local consumer market dynamics becoming increasingly important - as a outcome of what the analyst dubs the "highly commoditized" Android market.

Last month Apple announced it expected to report its first decline in iPhone sales since the device's introduction in 2007, in the second quarter of 2016, following the company's lowest iPhone sales figure to date.

Samsung maintained its top position, although its market share declined by 2.2% in overall smartphone sales during the year 2015.

Global sales of smartphones to end users totaled 403 million units in the fourth quarter of 2015, a 9.7 percent increase over the same period in 2014, according to Gartner, Inc.

Huawei achieved the best performance year over year - growing 53 per cent, and rising from a 5.7 per cent marketshare in Q4 2015 to 8.0 per cent in Q4 2015. For the whole of 2015, however, its market share fell to 22.5% from 24.7%.

"Current market conditions are prompting some vendors to consider setting up manufacturing operations in India and Indonesia to avoid being hit by future unfavorable currency devaluations and high import taxes", Gartner said.

Indeed, Huawei alone increased its worldwide smartphone sales from 68 million in 2014 to 104 million in 2015, partially thanks to an expansion drive in emerging markets.

Apple's South Korean rival, Samsung witnessed increased sales and it along with Huawei clocked an upsurge in the sales of its smartphones. "For Samsung to stop falling sales of premium smartphones, it needs to introduce new flagship smartphones that can compete with iPhones and stop the churn to iOS devices", said Anshul.

Android benefited from continued demand for affordable smartphones and from the slowdown of iOS units in the premium market in the fourth quarter of 2015, Gartner said.

The data upheld the dominance of Android OS, which held an overall market share of 80.7 per cent. In the Q4 2014 Android smartphones held a market share of 76 per cent. Even the launch of Windows 10 could not help Microsoft gain a significant share in the market as the OS held a mere 1.1 per cent share in the smartphone market in Q4 2015.

Despite the decline, Apple's total market share for the year increased.

Chinese smartphone maker Huawei Technology Co.

FIR against Kanhaiya Kumar based on TV channel reportStrong action will be taken against lawyers, if found guilty of indulging in violence at Patiala House Court. The Bar Council of India said it had appointed a three-member panel to investigate the violence by lawyers.

Source: Global smartphone sales post slowest growth since 2008:Gartner