Samsung took the top spot in smartphone vendor rankings, , with 20 percent market share total, though Apple's 14.5 percent share meant that the iPhone is still the best-selling single smartphone.

Qualcomm, which designs processors for mobile devices, looks poised to ride the smartphone wave. On Wednesday it said third-quarter sales rose 39 percent year over year to $4.2 billion, while net income rose 22 percent to $1.06 billion.

For the current quarter, the company said it expects sales of $4.35 billion to $4.75 billion and a profit of $0.86 to $0.92 a share. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters estimated revenue of $4.25 billion and EPS of $0.84.

Meanwhile on Friday, group deals site Groupon Inc. saw great demand for shares. It launched on the Nasdaq at $28 a share, up 40 percent from its IPO price. It ended up closing at $26.

The IPO may pave the way for further public offerings after a dry spell. A late summer lull combined with persistent market volatility led to a steep decline in global IPO activity in the third quarter, making it the least active quarter of global issuance since the third quarter of 2009, according to a Renaissance Capital report. Online games maker Zynga is set to go public and Facebook is expected to launch an IPO next year.