Chinese smartphone makers were the only vendors in the global top five to increase sales in the third quarter of this year, said an American advisory company.

Statistics from Gartner Inc's recent report shows that three Chinese vendors -- Huawei, Oppo and BBK Communication Equipment -- together accounted for 21 percent of the smartphones sold globally to end users in the third quarter.

"They were the only smartphone vendors in the global top five to increase their sales and market share during the quarter," said Gartner.

Anshul Gupta, research director at Gartner, said that sales of smartphones in China grew by 12.4 percent, and the vendors who most successfully exploited the sales opportunities were Oppo and BBK Communication Equipment.

"In Oppo's case, 81 percent of its smartphone sales came from China, while the percentage for BBK was 89 percent. These two vendors also grew strongly in India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Russia," he added.

The consulting company also noted that the worldwide sales of smartphones grew by 5.4 percent year-on-year, with 373 million units in total shipped to end users.

No. 5 BBK Communication Equipment, market share: 5.3 percent

Two pedestrians walk past a Vivo Mobile Communication Technology Co Ltd poster in Nanjing, Jiangsu province. The smartphone maker is eyeing the Indian market by sponsoring its cricket league. [Photo/China Daily]