WASHINGTON: Samsung extended its lead in the global smartphone market over Apple in the second quarter, gaining from the launch of its updated flagship handsets, surveys showed on Thursday.

The South Korean giant delivered 77 million smartphones in the quarter, up 5.5 per cent from a year ago, for a market share of 22.4pc, research firm IDC said.

That compared with a 15pc drop in sales for Apple’s iPhones, which accounted for 11.8pc, IDC said. Samsung got a lift from the March launch of its Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge flagship models, with an upgraded processor, waterproofing and other features, IDC noted.

Apple, despite the launch of its more affordable iPhone SE, failed to keep pace and reported weaker sales compared to a year ago.

A separate survey by Strategy Analytics had a similar estimate, with Samsung at 22.8pc to 11.9pc for Apple.

Published in Dawn, July 29th, 2016