Samsung's sales have been on a downward spiral for a few months now, and according to the latest report from market research firm Gartner, the Korean manufacturer sold considerably less phones in Q3 2014 than it did in the same period a year ago. Samsung managed to sell a little over 73 million smartphones, 7 million less than the 80 million sales figure the company achieved last year. That's not a huge drop considering Samsung still sold the most number of smartphones, but it looks big when you consider that Apple managed to sell around 8 million more handsets compared to 2013.
Xiaomi saw the biggest increase in sales, going from just 3.5 million in 2013 to 15 million in Q3 2014. It's a clear indication that while Samsung is still leading the global smartphone market, it has been ceding market share slowly but surely to other players. Devices like the Galaxy A and E series are expected to help Samsung slow down the decline in sales through a mix of attractive hardware at low prices, but it will likely be some time before these show actual results for the Korean manufacturer.
