Sales growth of smartphones slowed in the third quarter of 2011, according to figures from analyst house Gartner. Although global smartphone sales grew by 42 percent year on year to hit 115 million units, sales growth compared to the previous quarter slowed to 7 percent.

"Strong smartphone growth in China and Russia helped increase overall volumes in the quarter, but demand for smartphones stalled in advanced markets such as Western Europe and the US as many users waited for new flagship devices featuring new versions of the key operating systems," said Gartner principal research analyst Roberta Cozza.

Sales for all mobile devices grew 5.6 percent year on year during the third quarter of 2011 to hit 440.5 million units. However, this was down on Q2 2011's year on year sales growth of 16.5 percent. Smartphones accounted for 26 percent of all mobile phone sales, slightly up on the 25 percent seen in the previous quarter. Android-based phones made up 52.5 percent of smartphone sales, more than doubling its market share compared to Q3 2010.

"Android benefited from more mass-market offerings, a weaker competitive environment and the lack of exciting new products on alternative operating systems such as Windows Phone 7 and RIM," Cozza said.

Around 460 million mobile phones were sold into the channel during the period, which Gartner attributes to a build-up of inventory in the run up to Christmas and expects to be sold by the first quarter of 2012.

Demand in emerging markets fuelled non-smartphone sales, with low cost devices from white box manufacturers and dual-SIM devices performing well. Gartner principal analyst Annette Zimmermann said Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa will make up for weaker sales in the western European market.

Nokia remained the top handset maker in terms of sales with a 23.9 percent global market share, with signs of improvement compared to the previous quarter. The company was strong in emerging markets and Gartner believes strong marketing of Nokia’s Windows Phone-powered Lumia devices should prompt a true turnaround in the second half of 2012.