Lenovo ranks No. 3 in smartphones with 5.6 percent market share

Lenovo once again ranked a distant third in worldwide smartphone shipments in the first quarter, according to the latest report from market research firm IDC.

Buoyed by last year’s $2.91 billion acquisition of Motorola Mobility from Google, Lenovo’s shipments rose 49.2 percent in the quarter. That gave the Chinese company, which has a headquarters in Morrisville, a 5.6 percent market share.

Lenovo, which is also the No. 1 PC maker, was ranked tied for fourth in worldwide smartphone shipments before it acquired Motorola in November. The latest results mark the first full quarter that Motorola brand sales were included in Lenovo’s numbers.

IDC reported that the Motorola deal “is paying off nicely” for Lenovo. Lenovo didn’t sell smartphones in the U.S. market until it acquired Motorola.

Overall smartphone shipments rose 16.7 percent from a year ago but were down 10.9 percent from the fourth quarter.

Samsung remained No. 1 with a 24.5 percent market share, but Apple boosted its market share to 18.2 percent, up from 15.2 percent a year ago, thanks to a 40 percent jump in shipments.

Huawei ranked No. 4 with a 5 percent market share.

This story was originally published April 29, 2015 at 3:49 PM with the headline "Lenovo ranks No. 3 in smartphones with 5.6 percent market share."