The global smartphone business is booming, growing almost 20% year-on-year, according to new data from Gartner — but Samsung's sales are flagging hard. The South Korean smartphone company remains the single largest smartphone vendor in the world, selling a little over 81 million units in Q1 of 2015. But that figure has shrunk from 85 million in the same time period a year prior, even as global sales of all smartphones have leaped from 281 million to 336 million. Meanwhile, every other company in the top five has seen healthily growth — most notably Apple, which increased its units sold from 43 million to 60 million, a 72.5% growth. Apple's strong showing comes as no surprise: The breakout success of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus has gifted the Cupertino company the most profitable quarter of any company ever, with analysts now predicting that iPhone sales over the coming year will be even higher than previously anticipated...
