Smartphones make up majority of global mobile sales for first time

Smartphones have made up the majority of mobile phone sales worldwide for the first time, according to new figures.

About 225m were sold globally between April and June, or 51.8% of all mobiles sold in that quarter, research firm Gartner said.

It is the first time smartphone sales exceeded those of feature phones — sometimes disparagingly known as “dumbphones” — the more basic models that have limited or no access to the internet and applications.