Beating Rivals
Amid a market saturation induced decline in worldwide smartphone sales, Samsung Electronics has reportedly nabbed the top position in major overseas markets.
Galaxy phones put Samsung back on top in the U.S., as Apple slipped between March and May of this year. In the third quarter of 2014, Apple became the most favored smartphone maker in the U.S., beating its Korean rival. This is mainly attributable to the fact that the U.S. market is Apple's home ground. Its aggressive marketing to promote the new iPhone series is another factor. However, Samsung snatched the top position from Apple in the U.S. handset market during the period of March and May for the first time in a year or so.
The Android phone maker is also consolidating its top position in the Southeast Asian market, which is receiving a lot of attention as one of the emerging smartphone markets, using mid to low-priced phones.
The sales volume of Samsung's Galaxy phones was the highest in the U.S. from March to May, according to the latest smartphone sales data from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech on July 1.
The Korean tech giant was unseated by Apple in April of this year to become the second-largest smartphone vendor in the U.S., but the new Galaxy S6, which was released in late April, helped Samsung reclaim the top spot in May.
In April, the iPhone 6 was the best-selling smartphone in the U.S, and the iPhone 6+ was in fifth place. The Galaxy S5 was in the runner up position, and the Galaxy S6 was in third place. Both of them closely followed the iPhone 6. Nevertheless, an increase in smartphone sales in May following the launch of the Galaxy S6 in late April helped Samsung oust Apple to become the number one smartphone manufacturer in the U.S.
Among those who purchased the Galaxy S6, 94.4 percent chose the new model to replace existing smartphones, and the other 5.6 percent were first-time smartphone buyers.
Samsung is maintaining the top spot in the Southeast Asian market based on the huge popularity of entry-level and mid-range smartphones. According to market research firm IDC on the same day, the Android device maker sold 5.5 million smartphones in Southeast Asia like Thailand, Myanmar, and Singapore during Q1 2015, which placed the firm in the number one position.
However, Samsung's share of the Southeast Asian market actually dropped in Q1 this year. The sales volume of Samsung phones grew 28 percent year-on-year, but its market share was 23 percent, down nearly 7 percent from a year ago. Industry analysts are saying that although its share in Q1 2015 grew compared to the 17.3 percent of the previous quarter, the extent of quarterly sales growth falls short of expectations. It is due to the fact that the fourth quarter is traditionally the off-season for Samsung. Furthermore, the Korean company focused on emerging markets with the introduction of entry-level models like the Galaxy A and Galaxy E early this year.
The IDC said that the reason for a mismatch between Samsung's growing smartphone sales and shrinking market share lies in the fact that mid to low-end phones are very popular in the rapidly-growing Southeast Asian market. On top of that, mid to low-priced phone manufacturers launched a full-scale offensive to dominate the market.