Global smartphone shipments passed the 1bn mark for the first time in 2014, according to figures from Juniper Research.

Over 1.2bn smartphones were shipped during 2014, the analyst says, 375m in the final quarter. Samsung shipped an estimated 315m smartphones in 2014, accounting for 25 per cent of the total. However, the company suffered a 3 per cent quarter-on-quarter decline in Q4, when it shipped 76m handsets. Apple, on the other hand, boosted by the launch of the iPhone 6 and Plus, shipped 74.5m iPhones during the quarter, 90 per cent up on the previous quarter.

Lenovo-Motorola combined is estimated to have shipped over 90m smartphones in 2014, improving its market share to just over 7 per cent, while Microsoft shipped 10.5m Lumia handsets in Q4, driven by low-cost models. Huawei improved its market share year-on-year, shipping over 70m smartphones in 2014, with the Honor line of devices accounting for almost 28 per cent of the total.