Xiaomi is now the world’s third largest smartphone maker

While growth in developed markets almost came to a halt, "emerging markets are still growing at more than 30% collectively," reveals a study by IDC. This report reveals that smartphone vendors shipped over 327 million units during the third quarter of 2014, a growth of over 25 percent when compared to the 261 million units shipped in the third quarter of last year.

Although Samsung lost over 8 percent in terms of market share since last year's third quarter, the maker still holds the dominant position with 78.1 million units shipped and a market share of 23.8 percent. Apple ranks second with 12 percent and 39.3 million units shipped, but an increase of more than 16 percent over last year's same period. 

The big surprise comes from Xiaomi. The Chinese smartphone maker's sales exploded, rising from 5.6 million units and 2.1 percent market share all the way to 17.3 million units and 5.3 percent. This represents a growth of 211.3 percent. LG and Lenovo hold the fourth position, with almost 17 million units shipped each.