A new report from mobile analysts at Juniper Research estimates that 320.3 million smartphones were shipped worldwide in the first quarter of this year, which shows a year-on-year drop of almost 6%.
It follows Apple’s quarterly results showing their first ever year-on-year decline in iPhone sales, dropping by over 16%. Microsoft has revealed its worst-ever quarter for Lumia smartphones, just 2.3 million units shipped, while Sony’s shipments have also dropped dramatically, although this is partly due to the company’s decision to focus on higher-profit handsets.
In China, Xiaomi’s growth has slowed, showing a slight decline in quarterly shipments to just over 14 million units. Similarly, Lenovo’s estimated shipments have dropped to 15.9 million smartphones in the quarter. However, Huawei shipments rose to over 27 million devices.
Samsung smartphone shipments were estimated to have increased slightly to 83 million units for the quarter, making it the world’s leading smartphone producer. Apple was in second place and Huawei was third.