Even though lockdown restrictions were eased across Europe, IDC said the smartphone market was affected and consumer spending on these devices improved only marginally.

Sales of smartphones to businesses fell 11.5% year-on-year, with the focus being on notebooks.

"The consumer segment was more resilient in 3Q 2020 than the commercial segment, as consumers returned to stores to buy new smartphones," said Francisco Jeronimo, associate vice-president at IDC EMEA.

"Although sales online exploded in the last two quarters, the reopening of brick and mortar stores proved to be particularly important for the latest devices, as four out of the ten most sold devices in 3Q 2020 were devices launched in the previous quarter.

"The store continues to be the place where consumers learn and test the latest novelties from vendors. Without that physical experience, consumers tend to choose the products they already know when buying online, making it harder for new brands and new products to succeed."

IDC said among the top five vendors, Apple, Xiaomi and OPPO were the notable brands, growing the most in the region. Apple benefitted from good sales of the iPhone SE and also the performance of its iPhone 11 range. The iPhone 11 and the iPhone SE were best-sellers in the region.

Both Xiaomi and OPPO gained market share from Huawei, with the former taking third spot for the first time, while OPPO consolidated its fifth position.

IDC said three million 5G smartphones were shipped during the third quarter, rise of 123.1% quarter-on-quarter, making up 10.4% of the total shipments.