(Yicai Global) Oct. 19 -- China’s smartphone shipments picked up in the third quarter, returning almost to year-earlier levels, according to market research firm Canalys.

Shipments reached 78.8 million in the three months ended Sept. 30, down 5 percent on the same period last year, Canalys’ latest report showed. But the decline was much less than the 17 percent drop seen in the second quarter.

Guangdong-based Vivo Communication Technology and Oppo Mobile Telecommunications ranked first and second, with shipments of 18.3 million and 16.5 million, respectively. Honor, which was sold last year by telecoms gear giant Huawei Technologies, continued its rise, securing third place with shipments of 14.2 million.

Honor’s market share climbed to 18 percent in the quarter, up from 9 percent in the previous three months, while Xiaomi’s fell slightly due to a shortage of supplies. It ranked fourth with shipments of 10.9 million. Apple came fifth after shipping 8.3 million units.

Honor and Apple will be the market’s focus in the second half, said Canalys analyst Toby Zhu, adding that Honor achieved quarterly market share growth of about 105 percent thanks to the use of various distribution channels. It also benefited from demand among Huawei handset users for new models as well as a sales boost from the debut of its flagship Honor 50 series.

Apple launched its new iPhone 13 in the quarter. Its handsets are still attractive to a larger number of users in China, and the more favorable pricing of the latest model has lowered the threshold for buying an iPhone, spurring a positive response from consumers, Zhu added.

Honor’s share of the domestic market has been rising steadily since it was sold last November. The company also announced recently that the Honor 50 series will be its first model to go on sale overseas, starting in Europe at the start of next month.

Editor: Tom Litting