• by Chuck Martin , Staff Writer, November 4, 2019

Despite all the new connected and smart things popping up everywhere, the smartphone is still king of the hill.

After slowing for the past two years, smartphones are back on a growth path.

In the third quarter, global smartphone shipments grew 2% -- reaching 366 million units, according to the latest research from Strategy Analytics.

This is the first period of growth in two years.

Samsung shipped 78 million phones in the third quarter and leads all other smartphone makers with 21% global market share.  Huawei is at 18%, Apple 12% and Xiaomi 9%.

“Worldwide demand for smartphones is recovering, due to strong pricing competition among vendors and new innovations such as larger screens and 5G connectivity,” stated Linda Sui, director at Strategy Analytics.

And this is all before 5G phones hit in a big way down the road.