By Michael Oleaga / m.oleaga@latinospost.com (staff@latinospost.com) | First Posted: Apr 26, 2013 12:20 PM EDT

As companies continue to reveal their first quarter earnings, data regarding the global smartphone market is also showing mixed results for two top tech organizations.

According to Strategy Analytics, Apple's iPhone dropped to its slowest pace ever as Samsung's smartphones surged significantly in the first quarter of 2013.

Samsung's smartphone shipments increased 56 percent to 69.4 million units in the quarter ending in March. As for Apple, they too saw an increase of 6.6 percent. Apple's increase equated to 37.4 million units.

Overall, smartphone shipments worldwide gained by 36 percent for a whopping 209.5 million units. A reason for the surge is due to service in China and the U.S.

"Samsung shipped almost two times more smartphones and grew nine times faster than Apple during the quarter," said Strategy Analytics analyst Neil Mawston. "Samsung should continue to deliver strong smartphone volumes worldwide in the second quarter."

As Mawston noted, the positive news for Samsung may continue onto the next financial quarter as the Galaxy S4 makes its debut in markets worldwide.

Wrapping up the top three, LG Electronics finished third, according to Strategy Analytics.

Apple and Samsung's sales numbers come approximately a week before the next batch of market share figures are released for the month of April.

Related Articles:

- iOS vs. Android Market Share: Apple Mobile OS Usage Rise Significantly Over Android, Windows Phone in March Figures

- iOS vs. Android Market Share 2013: Apple Operating System Trumps Android, Windows Phone in February Statistics

© 2015 Latinos Post. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.