BEIJING, March 31 (Reuters) - Shipments of

foreign-branded smartphones, including Apple Inc's ( AAPL )

iPhone, in China rose 9.2% in February year-on-year, according

to Reuters calculations based on data released on Monday from a

government-affiliated research firm.

Calculations on the data from the China Academy of

Information and Communications Technology (CAICT) showed that

during the month, shipments of foreign-branded phones rose to

2.64 million units, up from 2.42 million units a year earlier.

As the largest foreign phone maker in China's

smartphone-dominated market, Apple's ( AAPL ) performance plays a

significant role in the overall data on foreign-branded phone

shipments in the country.

Overall phone sales in China increased by 37.9% to 19.66

million units in February, CAICT data showed.