• by Chuck Martin , May 1, 2019

Global smartphone shipments dropped for the sixth consecutive quarter, according to the latest forecast by Canalys.

The 314 million devices shipped was the lowest number of units hitting the market in nearly five years.

Samsung was the largest vendor, though its shipments fell 10% to 71 million units. Apple’s iPhone shipments dropped 23% to 40 million units.

Huawei saw a 50% surge in shipments of its phones.

“This is the largest single-quarter decline in the history of the iPhone,” states senior analyst Ben Stanton. “Apple’s second largest market, China, again proved tough, but this was far from its only problem. Shipments fell in the U.S. as trade-in initiatives failed to offset longer consumer refresh cycles.”

A separate forecast from Strategy Analytics also showed a drop in smartphone shipments. That tally had 330 million units shipping in the first quarter. That forecast also has Samsung leading the market, followed by Huawei, Apple and Xiaomi.