Apple's smartphone market share slips to lowest level in four years

Apple's share of the global smartphone market fell during the second quarter to its lowest level in four years, according to data released Friday.

Apple took 13.1 per cent of the worldwide market, according to ABI Research, down from 16.6 per cent a year ago. That's the lowest level since the third quarter of 2009, two years after the launch of the first iPhone.

Apple, based in Cupertino, California, sold 31.2 million iPhones in the April-to-June period, up from 26 million in the same period a year ago, the report said. But the company's sales growth isn't keeping pace with the overall smartphone market, which grew 52 per cent from last year.

The No. 3 and No. 4 smartphone makers, LG Electronics of Korea and Lenovo of China, doubled their sales in the quarter, according to ABI research.

Samsung, the world's largest maker of smartphones, also saw a drop in market share.