According to the latest statistics shared by International Data Corp (IDC), Shenzhen, China-based telecom biggie Huawei Technologies became the world's third-biggest smartphone vendor - after Samsung and Apple - during the 2012 fourth quarter.

With the smartphone market shares of erstwhile bigwigs like Nokia, Research In Motion (RIM), and HTC having plunged notably of late, Huawei has made it to the `top five' list of smartphone vendors for the first time.

Going by the figures shared by IDC in its recent report, the total number of smartphones shipped by Huawei during the 2012 fourth quarter was 10.8 million; which accounted for the company's 4.9 percent share of the global smartphone market.

The market share grabbed by Huawei during the reporting quarter was the third-highest share, behind that of Samsung and Apple. While Samsung led the global smartphone market with a noteworthy 29 percent share; Apple's share of the market during the quarter was 21.8 percent.

Noting that "the high-growth smartphone market, though dominated by Samsung and Apple, still presents ample opportunities for challengers," IDC's senior research analyst Kevin Restivo said that newcomer Huawei's momentous ascend to the third spot in the smartphone arena is largely a result of the fact that the company has used its unique market advantages - like affordably-priced handsets - to rapidly gain market share, particular in the emerging markets.