The Samsung Galaxy S4 was the mighty weapon that carried Samsung to the top of the hill, while competitors remained stuck trying to fight an uphill battle. However, as the top titans duke it out at the forefront, small players were creeping up the tailend and gathering as much resources as they could.

Apple and Samsung, despite remaining as the top two smartphone suppliers in the world, lost market share to smaller firms ZTE and LG. According to the International Data Center, Lenovo and ZTE crept to fourth and fifth spots while a separate report from Strategy Analytics suggested that Chinese firms ZTE and Huawei completed the top five.

"The current iPhone portfolio is under-performing and Apple is at risk of being trapped in a pincer movement between rival 3-inch Android models at the low-end and 5-inch Android models at the high-end," explained Strategy Analytics' executive director Neil Mawtson.

All smaller players in the tail of Samsung and Apple gained market share, which analysts believe signal a new battle for low priced smartphone domination.