Samsung shipped almost 325 million smartphones during 2015

Although Samsung did not manage to deliver as expected by stock owners and analysts during 2015, its smartphone shipments placed them in the first position for the last quarter, as well as for the whole year. However, the official Q4 2015 earnings release mentions that a decrease in smartphone sales has led to a small decrease of the company's operating profit.

Preliminary data from the IDC shows that all smartphone vendors shipped almost 400 million units in the last quarter, which accounts for a 5.7 percent increase compared to the same period of 2014. On the other hand, Samsung shipped 85.6 million units during the same period - a solid 14 percent increase. Unfortunately, the yearly growth of the company is smaller - only 2.1 percent. Global shipments during 2015 are estimated at 399.5 million units, and Samsung contributed to 324.8 million to that figure.

According to IDC, this year will be very tough for the market leader. While Apple increases its pressure in the high-end segment, multiple Chinese vendors like Huawei, Lenovo, or Xiaomi aim the low-end and mid-range areas of the smartphone market.