Annual shipments by Chinese smartphone manufacturers Huawei, OPPO and vivo rocketed all three companies into the world's top 5 smartphone manufacturers last year, according to the latest data released by third-party market intelligence firm IDC.

Global smartphone shipments reached 1.47 million units in 2016, up by 2.3 percent from last year, said IDC.

The data showed that Samsung took the top spot, followed by Apple in second place. Even so, the shipments of the two top tech giants declined respectively by 3 percent and 7 percent, demonstrating decreased global market shares.

However, 2016 saw the rise of Chinese mobile phone-makers. Huawei shipments grew 30.2 percent year on year to 139.3 million units, and the company retained its No. 3 position globally. In addition, the last quarter of 2016 marked the first time that Huawei achieved a double-digit global market share. The other two manufacturers, OPPO and vivo, both achieved growth of over 100 percent, shipping 99.4 million and 77.3 million units respectively in 2016.

Statistics from another market research firm, Counterpoint, indicate that China shipped 465 million smartphones over the last year, accounting for nearly one-third of the global volume.

IDC believes that the rising disposable income of Chinese people has resulted in greater consumption, which contributed to the rapid growth of the domestic smartphone market. Chinese customers now consider mobile phones an essential tool required to meet their daily needs, IDC speculated. They also see it as a symbol of their taste, rather than simply a cost-effective piece of hardware.

IDC predicted that shipments of Chinese smartphones in 2017 will continue to grow, and the rise of Chinese brands will keep changing the global market landscape.