(Telecompaper) Worldwide mobile phone sales rose 0.7 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, thanks to growth in Asia, Gartner reported. The market researcher estimates total sales at nearly 426 million units, of which 210 million were smartphones, up 42.9 percent from the first quarter of 2012. The Asia/Pacific region was the only region to show growth in mobile phone sales this quarter, with a 6.4 percent increase year-on-year. In terms of manufacturers, Samsung grew sales 13 percent 100.7 million units, increasing its market share by 2.5 percent points compared to a year ago to 23.6 percent. Nokia's share was down almost 5 points to 14.8 percent, as its sales fell 24 percent to 63.2 million. Apple was third in the overall market with sales of 38.3 million phones and a 9.0 percent market share, while LG grew slightly to 15.6 million phones sold and a market share of 3.7 percent. The rest of the top ten included all Chinese manufacturers, apart from Sony Mobile with a 1.9 percent share. Smartphones increased to 49.3 percent of all phones sold in the market in Q1, versus 34.8 percent a year earlier and 44 percent in Q4. Samsung took almost 31 percent of the market with an estimated 64.7 million units sold, followed by Apple with 18.2 percent and LG, ZTE and Huawei each with just under 5 percent. Samsung's growth helped extend Android's dominance, with the Google operating system accounting for 74.4 percent of smartphones sold in the quarter, up from 56.9 percent a year ago.