WASHINGTON: South Korea’s Samsung remained at the top of the rapidly growing smartphone market in early 2014 as Chinese rivals gained ground, a survey showed.

The overall global smartphone market grew 28.6 percent from a year ago with 218.8 million units sold, according to the IDC survey. That was down 2.8 percent from the fourth quarter, with a seasonal impact on sales.

Samsung had a 30.2 percent market share, compared with 31.9 percent a year earlier. Apple remained the number two global vendor at 15.5 percent, which was down from 17.1 percent one year earlier.

Chinese firm Huawei held third place with a 4.7 percent global share, with year-over-year sales growth of 47 percent.

Fellow Chinese maker Lenovo saw 63 percent sales growth and grabbed a share of 4.6 percent, ahead of South Korean LG’s 4.4 percent.

IDC expects 19 percent sales growth in smartphones this year, following the first billion-plus sales year in 2013. IDC analyst Ramon Llamas said he sees “sustained strong demand, driven by emerging markets, low-cost devices, and the proliferation of 4G networks.”

This suggests “another record-breaking quarter at the end of the year,” he added.