India to surpass US in smartphone shipments by 2019

China is expected to maintain its leadership, with nearly half of all smartphone shipments worldwide (although no figures were given by Statista).

Smartphone shipments in India registered a growth of 15 percent annually in the first quarter of 2017, reaching 29 million units.

"Globally, shipments passed the one billion-mark for the first time in 2013, and are forecast to total almost two billion units by 2019," Statista noted.

Smartphone shipments in China grew a modest four percent in the first quarter of 2017 and smartphone brands like Oppo and Vivo saw the fastest growth followed by Huawei, extending their lead over Apple, Xiaomi and Samsung by a large margin.

According to New Delhi-based Counterpoint Research, global smartphone shipments hit 11 percent in the first quarter this year compared with a two percent decline in the same period last year.

A total of 375 million smartphone units were shipped in the first quarter.