This photo taken on Jan. 15, 2021, shows Samsung Electronics Co.’s Galaxy S21 smartphones displayed at a store in Seoul. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, June 30 (Korea Bizwire) – Samsung Electronics Co. further expanded its dominance in the domestic smartphone market in the first quarter of the year on the back of robust sales of the Galaxy S and A series, a report showed Wednesday.
Samsung had a share of 67 percent in the South Korean smartphone market in the January-March period, up 9 percentage points from a quarter earlier, according to data from market researcher Counterpoint Research.
Its first-quarter market share was also 3 percentage points larger than a year earlier.
Samsung was followed by Apple Inc. with 22 percent and LG Electronics Inc. with 10 percent in the first quarter.
Apple and LG’s market share declined 9 percentage points and 1 percentage point quarter-on-quarter, respectively.
Samsung’s Galaxy S21 5G was the bestselling smartphone in South Korea in the first quarter, followed by the Galaxy A31 and Apple’s iPhone 12 Pro.
Seven of the 10 top-selling smartphones were from Samsung, while the rest were from Apple, Counterpoint Research said.
The Galaxy S21 was launched with a price tag of 999,900 won (US$900) in South Korea, the cheapest price ever for Samsung’s flagship 5G smartphone model.
It was also released on Jan. 29, nearly two months earlier than the company’s usual schedule of new flagship smartphone launches.
Counterpoint Research said the South Korean smartphone market in the first quarter expanded 21 percent year-on-year, but it is expected to have diminished in the second quarter due to lack of new smartphone launches and LG’s exit from the mobile business.
(Yonhap)
