Smartphones registered roughly half of the mobile phones that shipped in the fourth quarter of last year, it added.
"BlackBerry, Microsoft and Nokia, as well as other Android vendors, have strategies and devices in place to attack, but the task is daunting to say the least," said Pete Cunningham, principal analyst with Canalys. Nokia remained the third largest smartphone vendor in the entire year of 2012. The Finnish company made 35 million smartphones in the fourth quarter.
Android smartphones accounted for about 70 percent of the 216.5 million handsets shipped. Chinese vendors Huawei, ZTE, Lenovo and Yulong all grew by triple-digit percentages, according to Canalys.
However, local brands are finding it difficult to increase profit margins.
According to a JPMorgan report, worldwide smartphone adoption could peak in 2013. If this proves to be true, manufacturers are set to face thinner margins and higher operational costs.
Lenovo said it sold 9 million smartphones in China from October to December but gained a "very limited" profit in this sector.
英语快讯：国产手机在智能手机市场上取得了突破性进展。市场研究公司IDC近日发布报告称，2012第四季度，华为以4.9%的市场份额成为全球第三大智能手机制造商，仅次于三星和苹果;而另一家国内知名厂商中兴则以4.3%的份额位列第五。中国手机厂商如果能够抓住这一契机，极有可能改写全球手机市场格局。
