Official figures shared by analyst firm IDC have revealed that during the past year's last quarter, the smartphone market recorded a growth of a whopping 39%, adding further evidence to the fact that the sector is fast pulling out of recession.

IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker revealed that as many as 4 out of the top 5 smartphone vendors managed to post hikes in fourth-quarter sales, which led to total shipments of 54.5 million units, a substantial increase when compared to the 39.2 million devices that were shipped in 2008's fourth quarter.

For the complete year, shipments surged to 174.2 Million, which is an increase of 15.1% when compared to the figure of 151.4 million recorded for 2008.

"Increasingly, mobile users are seeking greater utility from devices, and carriers took advantage of lower prices on many older devices to help address this demand, ordering additional units and, in turn, offering reduced prices to end users", said Ramon Llamas, Senior Research Analyst with IDC's mobile devices technology and trends team.

While Apple and Nokia ruled the markets, HTC tumbled.