Huge first quarter sales drop in China for Samsung smartphon

Samsung's first quarter sales of smartphones in China have declined by 60% year on year to around 3.5 million units, according to the Hong Kong-based Counterpoint technology Market research company.

Samsung, which has dominated the Chinese market in recent, has also seen its first quarter share of smartphone shipments drop to 3.3% from 8.6% year on year, falling behind competitors Huawei, Oppo, Vivo, Apple and Xiaomi.

Industry analysts suggest the South Korean conglomerate’s losses can be put down to the ill-fated Galaxy Note 7 fiasco last year and strong competition from Chinese smartphone brands.

China's Huawei topped the Chinese market in Q1 with a 19.7 percent share, while China's OPPO and Vivo followed with 17.5 percent and 17.1 percent respectively.