China overtook the US to become the world’s largest smartphone market by volume during the third quarter of 2011, according to research from Strategy Analytics. Smartphone shipments in China reached 23.9 million units during the period compared to 23.3 million in the US. Q3 smartphone shipments grew 58 percent in China but fell 7 percent in the US, allowing China to pull ahead for the first time.

“China’s rapid growth has been driven by an increasing availability of smartphones in retail channels, aggressive subsidizing by operators of high-end models like the Apple iPhone, and an emerging wave of low-cost Android models from local Chinese brands such as ZTE,” said Strategy Analytics director Tom Kang.

Nokia is the leading brand in the Chinese smartphone market with 28.5 percent market share (6.8 million units), followed by Samsung with 17.6 percent (4.2 million units). HTC leads the way in the US with a 24 percent share (5.6 million units) followed by Apple’s 20.6 percent (4.8 million units).

The US is still the largest smartphone market in terms of revenue but Strategy Analytics executive director Neil Mawston said China has become “a large and growing smartphone market that no hardware vendor, component maker or content developer can afford to ignore.” Recent research by the GSMA forecast that China will be the world's biggest market for 'connected devices' by 2020, giving operators in the country a revenue opportunity of US$180 billion.