For the first time since 2011, Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) has blown past Samsung (KRX: 005930) in quarterly phone sales, according to Forbes. In Q4 2014, Apple boasted 74.8 million unit sales, while Samsung only cleared about 73 million. “Samsung’s performance in the smartphone market deteriorated further in the fourth quarter of 2014, when it lost nearly 10 percentage points in market share,” Garter’s principal research analyst Anshul Gupta said, according to Forbes. “Samsung continues to struggle to control its falling smartphone share, which was at its highest in the third quarter of 2013. This downward trend shows that Samsung’s share of profitable premium smartphone users has come under significant pressure.” Macrumor commenter newagemac says: “That's absolutely crazy when you consider Samsung targets the full range of prices all the way down to dirt cheap while Apple focuses on the high end. That's like BMW outselling not just Lexus but the whole Toyota division too! Almost unheard of in business.” Macrumor commenter LordVic says: “It will be interesting. I don't think it'll be good for samsung, or even HTC. if the tepid response after MWC for their latest devices is any indication, they didn't truly hit the perverbial target. I'm currently an Android user who has been on a nexus 5 for a while. I bought this phone as a 'stopgap' till my contract was up and I could get a discounted phone. The N5 is a fantastic device. but it's still a $350 device and not a flagship. Well, I'm financially better of now than last year and I want a flagship, top of the line, premium phone for a change. I waited till HTC and Samsung did their announcements and overall I'm disappointed. I don't think either company came close to the design and build of the current iPhone 6. the HTC didn't make any significant changes to their device at all. moved some buttons. change the colour. made the border all one piece, but the overall look and feel is identical. The Samsung did the most radical departure from their own history, but that's not a good thing necessarily. the phone looks ok, but I'm not convinced that removing the SD card or battery was the way to go. Plus, that camera bump on teh S6 looks hideous to me. I can't explain it. it's the ugliest camera bump i have ever seen. It looks like a wart I'm likely going to go iPhone 6s unless someone in the android camp can get off their collective rear ends and actually give Apple some challenge to the 6.”