Korean tech giant still biggest smartphone maker in the world

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April 29, 2015 1:01 PM

Samsung has a comfortable lead In terms of volume with an estimated 83 million phones shipped in Q1, however it still has a lot of catching up to do to match the 89 million shipments it made in the same period last year.

Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge

For a brief spell last year, Apple and Samsung were tied for the title of the biggest smartphone maker in the world, with each of them shipping around 74 million devices in the fourth quarter or last year.

However, the first three months of 2015 have marked a return to the top for Samsung as Apple's sales dwindled down to 61 million while Samsung’s, according to Strategy Analytics estimates, has risen beyond the 80 million mark.

It’s not all great news only for the Korean company though: while Apple’s high volume is accompanied by a consistently high average selling price, Samsung’s growth has come primarily from its less profitable mid-range to low-end devices like the Galaxy A, E and J series.

The company anticipates a more profitable second quarter of the year thanks to the new Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge flagship phones. In total, Samsung reported earnings of roughly $44 billion for the quarter ending March 31, which results in an operating profit of $5.6 billion.

Asides from high-fliers Samsung and Apple, Strategy Analytics places Lenovo-Motorola group in third spot and Huawei in fourth, though they are only two of the rising number of Chinese companies vying for a spot.

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