Research firm IDC estimated the global handset market grew last quarter 18 percent from a year ago, while Strategy Analytics said growth was at 16 percent.
"Mobile phone users are eager to swap out older devices for ones that handle data as well as voice, which is driving growth and replacement cycles," IDC analyst Kevin Restivo said in a statement on Friday.
The phone market has recovered from a slump in 2009 when the global economic slowdown dampened sales of the latest gadgets. Demand has surged for new smartphones like Apple's iPhone 4 and Samsung's Galaxy S.
Apple's sales of iPhones grew 86 percent from a year ago, while RIM sold 35 percent more Blackberrys than a year ago in its latest fiscal quarter to end-November.
RISE OF ZTE "The past year has been a highly disruptive period, as high-tier smartphone specialists and manufacturers of entry-level handsets with multiple SIM-card slots made gains at the expense of several established mega-vendors," said analyst Neil Mawston from Strategy Analytics.
