
A report by Strategy Analytics shows that Apple's smartphone shipments stood at 51 million in Q4 2014 while in the previous quarter they jumped up to 74.5 million. Samsung too shipped around the same number of smartphones in Q4 2014 but it was down from 86 million units in Q4 2013.
That said Samsung is still very much the top smartphone vendor when you look at the entire year. Its total shipments have crossed 317 million units against Apple's 192.7 million in 2014.
The report points out that Samsung is facing intense competition from the likes of Xiaomi and Huawei in the low-end and mid-range segments whereas Apple is giving it a run for its money at the high-end segment.