April 18, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Tech giant Samsung Electronics has come out top in the global smartphone market with its market share reaching 21 percent last year, according to a report released by market research firm Counterpoint Research on Feb. 2.

The Korean smartphone maker widened the gap with its archrival Apple to 7 percent. The US tech giant’s market share came in at 14 percent last year.

In the fourth quarter alone, however, Apple outpaced Samsung as it held an 18.6-percent market share, 0.7 percentage higher than that of Samsung.

Apple sold around 773.2 million units of its iPhones during the fourth quarter while Samsung sold around 730 million.

“Samsung is holding a solid lead in Korea and Latin America, but its fourth-quarter smartphone shipments in India, China and Europe dropped by 11 percent from the previous quarter,” the research firm said.

Chinese smartphone maker Huawei claimed 10-percent market share last year while Korean tech firm LG Electronics came seventh with 3.6 percent.

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)