Beijing, Feb 18 (IANS): China shipped 131.6 million smartphones in in the fourth quarter of 2016 with Huawei topping the list, followed by Oppo and Vivo, a new report said on Saturday.

According to a report by Singapore-based market research firm Canalys, the smartphone shipments in China accounted for nearly a third of worldwide shipments.

"Smartphone shipments in China for the fourth quarter of 2016 were also the quarterly highest in the history. Shipments for all of the year came to 476.5 million units, rising 11.4 per cent from 2015 levels," Digitimes reported, quoting Canalys report.

Huawei shipped 76.2 million units in China's smartphone market in 2016, followed by Oppo with 73.2 million units and Vivo with 63.2 million. 

"In 2016, the top three brands were competing with new product launches, go-to-market strategies and brand building," Canalys research analyst Jessie Ding was quoted as saying.

Xiaomi took the fourth spot while Apple fell to fifth place. 

"In 2017, competition between Huawei, Oppo and Vivo will become much more intense, while their increasing scale and bargaining power within the industry will have a larger impact on device strategies of operators and open channel partners," Ding predicted.