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 Thursday. Apple reported a record net profit of $18 billion in the quarter, on the back of what the California tech titan described as "staggering" iPhone 6 sales - especially in China.
Its South Korean rival, on the other hand, has seen its quarterly profits slashed in 2014, in the face of escalating competition at every price point. Strategy Analytics said Apple shipped 74.5 million handsets in the fourth quarter, compared to 51 million a year ago. Samsung logged the same number of shipments, which in its case marked a downturn from 86 million the previous year.