(Telecompaper) Global mobile phone shipments decreased by 1 percent to 373 million units in the first quarter compared to 378 million units in the year-earlier period, according to Strategy Analytics. The decline is attributed to macroeconomic challenges, tighter operator upgrade policies and slowing volumes of 2G features phones. Samsung sold 106.6 million mobile phones for a 28.6 percent share, followed by Nokia with 61.9 million units (16.6 percent). Within the total, smartphone shipments grew by 36.2 percent to 209.5 million units from 153.8 million units in the first quarter of 2012. Growth was driven by strong demand for LTE models in North America and other developed regions and by 3G models in emerging markets such as China. Samsung shipped 69.4 million smartphones for a 33.1 percent share, followed by Apple with 37.4 million units (17.9%).