Recently, market tracker IDC released a report stating that Apple's iPhone shipments saw a nearly 10 percent decline in the first quarter of this year. The data in the report showed that Samsung Electronics regained the top spot in the competition in the global smartphone market, and Xiaomi Corp. also showed a rebound trend, narrowing the gap with Apple, which is in second place. Since Apple launched its latest generation of iPhones in September last year, the tech giant has been facing sales challenges in China, the world's largest smartphone market. These woes are gradually having an impact on its global performance. According to IDC's preliminary statistics, Apple shipped about 5 million fewer iPhones compared to a year ago.