While most segments in the tech industry have had a hard time coping with a global recession, the smartphone market seems to have weathered the economic storm just fine, suggests a new report from research firm Canayls.

According to Canayls, smartphone sales saw growth of 4 percent against the same quater last year, and shot up 14 percent from last quarter.

"While growth has undoubtedly slowed, it is still outperforming the overall mobile phone market by some margin, as well as driving data revenue for operators, and smartphones are ushering in a range of changes in user behavior when it comes to what people actually do on their phones," said Canalys senior analyst Pete Cunningham.

The smartphone market has been particularly kind to Apple, whose iPhone 3G S helped the iPhone grow its market share by 4 percent to settle in at 18 percent of the market. That puts it in third place behind RIM, which holds a 21 percent share.

"Demand for the iPhone 3G S far outstripped supply, and we expect to see continued growth for Apple, especially with new operators coming onboard, for example in the UK with teh end of O2's exclusivity on the device," Cunningham added.

Image Credit: 3g.co.uk