Apple ties with Samsung as world’s top smartphone vendor

NECK-AND-NECK: Strategy Analytics said Apple shipped 74.5 million handsets in the fourth quarter compared to 51 million a year ago, while Samsung logged the same number of shipments, which in its case marked a downturn from 86 million the previous year.

SEOUL: Apple caught up with Samsung as the world’s biggest smartphone vendor in the fourth quarter of 2014, thanks to booming sales of its new iPhone 6, market researcher Strategy Analytics said. 

Apple reported a record net profit of US$18bil (RM65.44bil) in the quarter, on the back of what the California tech titan described as “staggering” iPhone 6 sales — especially in China.