The number of smartphones sold in China was flat in the second quarter, as the world’s largest market showed signs of saturation after years of booming sales fueled by cutthroat competition. But Caixin reports the situation is likely to pick up later this year, and overall sales value is likely to grow as more consumers trade up from cheap models that have flooded the market in the last two years to higher-end, better-performing smartphones. Smartphone makers sold 110.1 million units in the three months through June, essentially unchanged from the 109.7 million units shipped in the same period a year earlier, according to data tracking firm GfK. The figure lagged behind the global growth rate, which saw unit sales rise 4% to 347 million units. However the value of smartphones sold in China during the period actually rose 8%, reaching $35.1 billion. The market is now by far the world’s largest, accounting for nearly a third of all sales.