Smartphone shipments in China reached 24 million in the third quarter of the year, 1 million more than the number recorded in the U.S., making the country the largest smartphone market in the world, according to new figures from Strategy Analytics.

Smartphone shipments grew 58% quarter-on-quarter to 23.9 million units, while in the U.S. shipments fell by 7% to 23.3 million, the analyst firm announced on Wednesday. However, the U.S. remains the world's largest market by revenue.

Growth in China was driven by an increasing availability of smartphones in retail channels, aggressive subsidising of high-end models by the operators, and the arrival of many low-cost Android models from local players, Strategy Analytics said, highlighting ZTE in particular.

However, China's smartphone market is led by Nokia, which claimed a 28.5% share in Q3, thanks to 6.8 million units shipped. Samsung is some way behind in second place, its 4.2 million shipments giving it a 17.6% share of the market.

"China has become a large and growing smartphone market that no hardware vendor, component maker or content developer can afford to ignore," said Neil Mawston, executive director at Strategy Analytics, in a statement.

In the U.S. the market leader is Taiwan-based HTC, which shipped 5.6 million smartphones in the three-month period to claim a market share 24%. Apple came in second with 4.8 million units shipped and a 20.6% share.