This is a 10.1 percent increase from 2014. To make matters even better in Q4 2015, shipments totalled 399.5 million units, an increase of 5.7 percent from the same period a year ago.

This will be news to Apple which saw its sales flatten. Samsung retained its spot as the number one manufacturer, and Huawei recorded shipments of 106.6 million, netting a year-on-year growth of 44.1 percent. Apple came second but a long way behind Samsung.

In the fourth quarter of 2015, Samsung shipped 85.6 million smartphones, with a 21.4 percent market share and 14 percent year on year growth.

Among Android manufacturers, Huawei came second with 32.4 million shipments and an 8.1 percent market share, a year on year growth of 37 percent.

Lenovo accounted for 202 million shipments, a massive increase of 43.6 percent from Q4 2014. Xiaomi shipped 18.2 million devices.