Samsung appears to have had a pretty successful start to the year with its latest flagship smartphones, the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge, taking the world by storm, which is likely due to an innovative marketing campaign that saw the manufacturer give away a complimentary Gear VR headset with every handset sold. According to the Yonhap News Agency, the South Korean company sold 81.18 million smartphone units around the globe in the three month period spanning from January to March, which accounts for a whopping 23.2% of all worldwide sales, putting Samsung at the top of the table for smartphone sales in Q1 of 2016.
As good as it may seem, Samsung's first-quarter sales actually mark a 1.1% decline from last year's 24.1%. However, it looks like that Apple, which accounted for 14.8% of market sales and shipped 51.62 million units during the first quarter, also suffered a 3.1% decrease in sales from last year's 17.9% presence. Chinese OEMs were amongst the only firms on the list to expand their market shares in Q1 as a result of an increased demand for budget-friendly smartphones. Xiaomi ranked in third place, shipping a total of 28.87 million handsets globally, which accounts for 8.3% of the market, marking a total increase of 2.9% from its 5.4% presence this time last year.
