Huawei Technologies pulled ahead of Apple to claim the No. 2 position in global smartphone shipments in the second quarter just behind Samsung Electronics, according to market research firm IDC.

Chinese Huawei shipped 54.2 million phones in the quarter, 41 percent more than a year earlier, to jump ahead of the iPhone maker for the first time, IDC said. The telecoms giant accounted for 16 percent of the market, compared with 21 percent for South Korea's Samsung and 12 percent for Apple. Xiaomi Corp. and Oppo, both based in China, rounded out the top five.

Huawei has pushed into Europe and Africa, though it's failed to crack the U.S. market. Apple tends to sell iPhones at higher prices than its rivals and profits from services like iTunes, which helped it top earnings estimates for the quarter.

The second quarter has historically been a weak one for Apple. The Cupertino, California-based company introduces new phones late in the year, then usually sees sales climb in the fourth and first quarters. That momentum for the iPhone X, which starts at $1,000, wasn't sustained into the second quarter.

Apple will look to regain control of the market this fall with the expected launch of three next generations of iPhone models. The new models are rumored to bring different screens sizes, price points, increased performance, and new features to the table when they arrive next quarter.

Samsung once again remained the leader in the worldwide smartphone market despite a 10.4% decline in shipments from last year. The flagship S9/S9+, which launched late in the first quarter, witnessed slower than normal sales according to Samsung. Samsung claims the slowdown is due to both intensified competition at the high end and an overall sluggish smartphone market. The Korean giant will look to bolster sales in the coming weeks as we await the arrival of the new Galaxy Note 9. The new Note will be unveiled on August 9th and is expected to launch earlier than the Note 8 to gain a foothold ahead of pending fall launches from Apple and others. The device is expected to feature a bigger battery, new S-Pen capabilities, and increased performance.

Globally, the smartphone market continued its slowdown with shipments slipping 1.8 percent for the quarter to 342 million units. The number of smartphones shipped in 2017 fell 0.3 percent, according to IDC, the first decline after years of strong growth.