Analysts: Apple and Samsung supply about the same number of smartphones

Deliveries of smartphones from Samsung have fallen in the last months of 2014. The company does not provide exact figures on deliveries. Analysts suspect that Apple is the global market leader in smartphones or that both companies are on an equal footing.

Samsung says in the presentation of its annual and quarterly figures that deliveries of its smartphones have fallen in recent months. However, the manufacturer has not disclosed exact figures for several years, so it is unknown how many smartphones the group has really delivered.

Analyst agency IDC treasure in that Samsung shipped between 71 and 74 million units, less than the 74.5 million that Apple sold. Strategy Analytics is more cautious and believes that both manufacturers delivered exactly the same number of devices.

Samsung blames the drop in deliveries on ‘increased competition’, while it expects a recovery for next year due to the new Galaxy A series of metal smartphones and a ‘new portfolio’. The latter probably includes the Galaxy S6, which the manufacturer would like to present at the beginning of March at the Mobile World Congress telecom fair.

Deliveries of tablets also fell, the manufacturer reports. Turnover was 11 percent lower than the same period in 2013 and amounted to 42.7 trillion Korean won, or 34.6 billion euros. The group’s profit was 5.9 trillion won, or around 4.7 billion euros. That is 36 percent less than in the same period in 2013.