The research firm IDC has come out with some new numbers that offer an interesting insight into the smart device market for Q3 2012. The overall market saw huge growth of 27.1% during Q3, reaching a record of 303.6 million units shipped. Overall, the market was worth a staggering $140.4 billion during the third quarter of 2012.

Samsung was number one in the market, with an impressive 21.8% of the market share based on overall shipments. Apple brought up the rear in second place, shipping 15.1% of the devices in the market. Although Samsung led in terms of shipments, Apple actually managed to make more money for vendors, with a total of $34.1 billion during the quarter.

Other Android makers did well in the market as well. Lenovo came in third place with 7% of the market share. HP and Sony rounded out the top five with 4.6% and 3.6% respectively. All the companies in the top five for smart devices saw an increase in market share year over year except for HP, which saw its market share drop from 7.4% during Q3 2011 to 4.6% during Q3 2012.

IDC also went on to predict what we should expect from Q4 2012. The firm predicts that 362 million units will ship during the fourth quarter worth $169.2 billion. Sales in the holiday season are expected to be driven by tablets and smartphones, growing at 55.8% and 39.5% year-over-year respectfully. While the growth is expected to come from smartphones and tablets, IDC predicts that sales of PCs will decline.

[via Slashgear]