Global smartphone shipments top 1B in 2014: report

HAMPSHIRE, UK – Led by Samsung, mobile analyst firm Juniper Research estimates that the number of smartphone shipments exceeded 1.2 billion devices in 2014, representing a 29% year-over-year growth.Samsung shipped an estimated 315 million smartphones, accounting for 25% of all smartphone shipments, however it also reported its first annual earnings decline in three years. The company witnessed another quarterly fall in shipments and market share, to just over 76 million in Q4 2014, representing a 3% decline, continues the research.Meanwhile, Apple posted a record quarter of 74.5 million iPhone sales, representing quarter-over-quarter growth of 90% and year-over-year growth of 46%...