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Samsung sales stutter as Android sales boom

A woman walks past a Samsung Electronics Co. sign displayed at the company's Seocho office building in Seoul, South Korea, on Friday, March 14, 2014. Samsung Electronics expects competition to increase on the weak yen and growth of Chinese companies in global markets, Chief Executive Officer Kwon Oh Hyun said in a letter to shareholders posted on the companys website. Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg Expand

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A woman walks past a Samsung Electronics Co. sign displayed at the company's Seocho office building in Seoul, South Korea, on Friday, March 14, 2014. Samsung Electronics expects competition to increase on the weak yen and growth of Chinese companies in global markets, Chief Executive Officer Kwon Oh Hyun said in a letter to shareholders posted on the companys website. Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg

A woman walks past a Samsung Electronics Co. sign displayed at the company's Seocho office building in Seoul, South Korea, on Friday, March 14, 2014. Samsung Electronics expects competition to increase on the weak yen and growth of Chinese companies in global markets, Chief Executive Officer Kwon Oh Hyun said in a letter to shareholders posted on the companys website. Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg

A woman walks past a Samsung Electronics Co. sign displayed at the company's Seocho office building in Seoul, South Korea, on Friday, March 14, 2014. Samsung Electronics expects competition to increase on the weak yen and growth of Chinese companies in global markets, Chief Executive Officer Kwon Oh Hyun said in a letter to shareholders posted on the companys website. Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg

Adrian Weckler Twitter Email

Google's Android mobile operating system has increased its lead over Apple's iPhone in Europe, snagging 73pc of smartphone customers across the continent.

New figures released by research analyst s Kantar Worldpanel Comtech show that Apple retained 17pc of European smartphone users with Microsoft's Windows Mobile holding 8pc.

However, the research shows that Apple's iPhone 5S was the best selling phone in the US and UK in May, beating Samsung's flagship S5 device. Samsung retained the overall market lead across most world markets, due to solid sales of flagship devices and a large number of entry- level and mid-range devices.

"The Samsung Galaxy S5 has had some success in attracting former iPhone owners across Europe," said Dominic Sunnebo, strategic insight director at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech. "In general, consumers buying the Galaxy S5 were primarily attracted by its large screen size. This is something Apple is likely to address with the rumoured larger-screen iPhone 6 launch expected in late September."

The news comes as Apple is said to be preparing production of the iPhone 6. The new handset is tipped to have larger screens, with 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch displays expected.

Analysts expect the bigger devices to put further pressure on Samsung, which leads the so-called 'phablet' phone category with its Galaxy Note series of devices.

Apple is also expected to announce a smartwatch soon, with a launch expected in October.

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