?ABI Research reports that 438 million handsets and 244 million smartphones shipped during the third quarter of 2013. Samsung retained its lead in handset shipments and grew its share of smartphone shipments to 35%, while Apple’s share remained flat at 14%.

Smartphone shipment penetration was reportedly 56% in the third quarter, setting a record high for the third consecutive quarter. Windows Phone achieved 165% growth year-on-year, with Nokia accounting for 95% of that shipment volume. Supported by strong Android shipment growth from Huawei, Lenovo, Xiaomi, and Samsung, Android reached a new high of 80.6% shipment share in the third quarter.

“The race for the third ecosystem is clearly favoring Windows Phone with 4% market share, over BlackBerry’s 1.5%, but there remains little opportunity for new market entrants to make a significant impact on Android’s dominance,” said Michael Morgan, senior analyst.

Despite a strong showing late in the third quarter for Apple’s new iPhones, company revenue guidance for the fourth quarter reportedly indicates a record 53 million iPhones will ship. “Even with a record Q4 for the iPhone, Apple is only expected to achieve 18.7% market share,” said Nick Spencer, senior practice director, “which is down from the 22.6% Apple achieved in Q4 2012, due to Android’s growing dominance and the importance of emerging markets.”

For more information, visit www.abiresearch.com.