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Growth in the global smartphone market slowed to an annual 11.5 per cent in the third quarter, but there were strong sales of iPhones and BlackBerrys, according to the latest findings by Gartner, the research firm.

The economic downturn resulted in the weakest growth since it began tracking the industry, Gartner said. About 36.5 million handsets were sold around the world in the July-September quarter. Gartner analysts said they expected the smartphone market to continue to grow but at a slower pace.

The biggest winner was Apple, which more than quadrupled its sales compared with the same period in 2007 after it made the 3G iPhone more widely available and lowered prices. Apple sold 4.7 million phones in the quarter and its market share jumped to 12.9 per cent.

Nokia, the world’s largest maker of mobile handsets and the largest producer of smartphones, continued to lead the market with a 42.4 per cent market share. But for the first time, the company recorded a decline in sales of about 3 per cent. It sold 15.2 million smartphones in the quarter, Gartner said. Its lack of a touch-screen device in its portfolio had hurt sales and the new N97, announced this week, will not be available until well into the new year.

Research In Motion (RIM), the BlackBerry maker, maintained its second place in the market, according to Gartner, with a share of about 15.9 per cent. Sales of BlackBerrys rose 81.7 per cent to 5.8 million units. RIM has high hopes for its new touch-screen BlackBerry Storm but gave warning this week that the economic turmoil had lowered expected sales.

Apple outsold Microsoft and its Windows Mobile platform, both world-wide and in North America, for the first time, according to Gartner. Windows Mobile sales decreased by 3 per cent to 4 million phones.

Gartner said that North America was the fastest-growing smartphone market, with a 68 per cent increase.

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