According to the latest sales figures released by market research firm Gartner, after sales declines during 2009, the mobile phone market has improved for the first quarter of 2010. Smartphones are replacing feature phones for many users and are flourishing each quarter. The biggest gains were witnessed by iPhone and Android-based phones, as they both managed to gain market share year-over-year.

In the first quarter, the mobile phone vendors sold 314.7 million phones across the world, which showed a 16.9 percent increase from the first quarter of 2009. Most of the market share was grabbed by Nokia, Samsung, and LG. The significance of smartphones can be seen in the overall mobile market.

Apple has secured the seventh position overall. Carolina Milanesi, research Vice President at Gartner said, “Growth came partly from new communication service providers in established markets, such as the UK, and stronger sales in new markets such as China and South Korea”.

Global smartphone sold 54.3 million units for a 48.7 percent year-over-year increase.

Roberta Cozza, principal research analyst at Gartner shared that manufacturers need to firmly amalgamate hardware, user interface, and cloud and social networking services, in order to compete in such a cut throat competition, if they really want to attract the users. Cozza further added, “Just adding a QWERTY keyboard will not make a device fit the communication habits of today's various consumer segments”.