Best selling smartphones in the world

Last year was one of the most important one for smartphones. While the consumers saw literally bigger and better phones from manufacturers, Apple took smartphones to an all-new level.

The company unveiled a 64-bit processor and finger scanning that set the trend for the coming year. These two technologies are expected to dominate the smartphones in 2014.

Most companies are announcing 64-bit chips and are dabbling with technologies such as finger and eye scanning for the next generation smartphones.

Samsung and LG unveiled handsets with curved displays, which is probably the first step towards smartphones that can be bent and rolled. All this only means that 2014 will be even more exciting.

Consumers, on the other hand, appreciated the new technologies and these companies witnessed unprecedented smartphone sales.

Here are the six best selling smartphones of 2013.

Source: Wikipedia

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Apple iPhone 5C

Units sold: Over 2.7 million

When Apple launched an upgrade last year to its existing model - iPhone 5 - it came up with two successors. One was more expensive iPhone 5S that was more advanced and the second was iPhone 5C.

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iPhone 5C uses the same hardware has iPhone 5S but is available in variety of colours including blue, green, pink, yellow, and white. And, the phone body is made of polycarbonate casing.

Apple has positioned iPhone 5C as a mid-range phone below its flagship iPhone 5S and kept the earlier iPhone 4S as the entry-level model in most countries.

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Motorola Moto X

Units sold: Over 4 million

After Google acquired Motorola Mobility in 2013, Moto X was the first phone that the company developed.

The Unique Selling Proposition of the product was that customers could custom-order the device in their own choice of colour and that the phone was assembled in the US.

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The phone comes with a dual core Snapdragon processor and packs 2GB RAM. It features a 10MP rear camera and a 2 MP front one. To save on the battery, Motorola decided to keep a HD display with a resolution of 720 X 1280 pixels.

The company has now started expanding the reach of this phone to other countries. It is already launched in the UK and is expected to launch in India in February.

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Samsung Galaxy Note 3

Units sold: Over 9 million

There are two smartphones launches that mobile enthusiasts eagerly await - Apple iPhone and Samsung Galaxy Note.

Samsung went big with the screen size and launched a phone with a 5.7-inch display compared to 5.5-inch, and the only handset with a 3GB RAM.

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With the success of Note 3, the company is now planning to launch Galaxy Note 3 Neo.

Rumours suggest that phone looks like an exact replica of its elder sibling with 5.5-inch HD Super AMOLED display, an 8-megapixel rear camera and will pack a 3100mAh battery. It is expected to have a 2GB RAM.

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Nokia Lumia 520

Units sold: Over 9.1 million

The cheapest Windows 8 phone has been a run away success. Many users find it more value for money compared to the Android phone in the same price range.

According to some estimates, 520 accounted for 40 per cent of the total Lumia sales.

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The phone packs a 1GHz dual core processor and 512MG RAM. The 4-inch screen comes with a 480 X 800 pixel resolution.

After Microsoft acquired Nokia, the handset is all set for an update. Microsoft has announced its successor Nokia Lumia 525, which is more powerful and comes with a software upgrade.

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Samsung Galaxy S4

Units sold: Over 40 million

Galaxy S4 was the most anticipated phone launch of 2013, and Samsung did manage a grand show for its launch.

The Korean tech company brought in Broadway performers for a mammoth production at New York's iconic RadioCityMusic Hall. The hour-long spectacle was broadcast in Times Square.

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Upon its release, it became the fastest selling smartphone in Samsung's history; the company sold 20 million S4 units worldwide in the two months following the device's launch, according to Wikipedia.

The phone features 5-inch full HD display with 441 ppi pixel density. It packs an Octa core  processor and 2GB RAM.

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Apple iPhone 5S

Units sold: over 55 million

You can easily call it the most high-tech phone of 2013. For the first time in smartphone history, a phone came pack with 64-bit processor and a finger scanning.

The powerful processor means that we will soon have smartphones that would match the performance of desktop. And, finger scanning paves way for secure transactions on mobile in the future.

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iPhone 5S and 5C sold over nine million units in the first three days, which sets a record for first weekend smartphone sales, with the 5S selling three times more units than iPhone 5C, according to Wikipedia.

It further states that after the first day of release, 1 per cent of all iPhones in the US were iPhone 5S, while 0.3 per cent were iPhone 5C's.