Analysts: Samsung smartphone shipments fall in second quarter

An analyst firm says Samsung Electronics Co., the world's biggest maker of smartphones, saw its sales drop in the second quarter. It lost ground to upstart Chinese manufacturers after several years of headlong growth.

Research firm IDC says Samsung's smartphone sales fell 4 percent compared to a year ago, even though the quarter saw the launch of the latest top-flight model, the Galaxy S5.

The Korean company reported its quarterly results three weeks ago. It doesn't provide smartphone sales figures, but it was evident that the Samsung sales machine was stalling. Operating profit declined, and Samsung said sales of medium- and low-end smartphones were weak in China and in some European countries because of stronger competition and sluggish demand.