HTC has released its third quarter sales, and by all accounts it's been a bumper year for the Taiwanese phone manufacturer - with record handset shipped as well as huge increases in profit.

The bottom line is that HTC, in shifting 13.2 million handsets - up 93 per cent on the previous year - has increased profit by 63 per cent, leading to a net profit of $624 million dollars.

However, the impact on other phone company sales is unclear as it's China that HTC states it has seen the most growth - nine times that of the previous year. As it is this comparatively new market where HTC appears to be having the most success, it seems companies such as Apple and Samsung remain largely unaffected by HTC's growth - at the moment.

Even though Apple failed to achieve its market forecast target, its figures were still very healthy with any shortfall put down to potential customers waiting for an iPhone 5 (which failed to materialise) rather than opting for a different make of smartphone. Whilst Samsung announced that it had outsold Apple in Q3 smartphone sales for the very first time, it will be interesting to see if that trend continues with two comparable products on the market.

The HTC figures are even more impressive when you consider that HTC, for a long time, were a largely unknown OEM; initially making Windows Phone handsets, it made the bold move to go in with Google and Android, which enabled it to be catapulted into one of the biggest mobile phone companies in the world.