Apple’s marketshare in South Korea has skyrocketed in the last quarter, driven by strong demand for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, according to data by Counterpoint. Apple increased its share of sales from 15% to 33%, more than doubling its market power in one quarter.
Historically, Samsung has dominated South Korea, largely due to geographic advantages, but Apple’s gains now threaten the #1 spot. Apple is the first foreign smartphone company ever to surpass 20% marketshare in the region, taking the number 2 spot. Samsung’s marketshare fell from 60% in November to 46% and (now third-place) South Korean LG Electronics fell to 14%.
“No foreign brand has gone beyond the 20% market share mark in the history of Korea’s smartphone industry,” said Tom Kang, research director for mobile devices at Counterpoint. “It has always been dominated by the global smartphone leader, Samsung. But iPhone 6 and 6 Plus have made a difference here, denting the competition’s phablet sales.”
If Apple saw similar levels of growth next quarter, it would easily become the most popular smartphone brand in South Korea by sales volume. Whether the ‘iPhone 6 mania’ will continue is yet to be seen, of course.
Apple is also seeing success in Japan, rising from ~20% to >50% marketshare on the back of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus launches. Apple also attained third place in China, behind Xiaomi and Lenovo.
Apple will announce quarterly iPhone sales at its earnings call on January 27th, with some analyst estimates expecting a record 60 million shipments.
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Samsung need to try and somehow get their mojo back and quick. If they don’t tech fans will be flocking to Apple and other android phones – and history has shown it will be very difficult to get to the level they have enjoyed previously.
Samsung has their secret weapon for the low end market, it’s called Tizen. :-)
Tizen will be a no end market.
You know any second now the Android fanboy legion will come screaming here after a Google search and start spouting off Android marketshare numbers…
I think that they shouldn’t count phones with Gingerbread through Jelly Bean, since Google won’t support those with security updates anymore, so they should be considered just feature cell phones. But I’m sure the Android fans will certainly try to include those. I talked with one Android fan and he mentioned that Kit Kat was the most popular Android OS. For some reason, he thinks that 39% is the majority. He also thought that the sPen was a Samsung innovation, even though it was designed by Wacom. ;-)
“But I’m sure the Android fans will certainly try to include those.”
Just like the older Apples are included and not updated but hey, we wouldn’t want to skew your reality of the little Apple world you live in.
@sircheese69….
Marketshare is a statistic based off devices currently sold on the market. Last time I checked, Apple only ships devices with the latest OS. Furthermore, the latest OS supports devices as far back as almost 4 years ago (iPad 2 – March 2011). But hey, as long as we don’t skew your meaning of marketshare in the distorted reality of the Android world you live in.
Keep drinking that koolaid and enjoy that slipping marketshare.
Gingerbread still rocks for Android users. Lollipop has been out for nearly three months and it barely registers in terms of usage of around 2%. What a joke.
Market share is like going to a gunfight with a knife. Apple has large profit share because that’s what really matters. It’s unfortunate those Wall Street moguls are a bit misguided when it comes to true company value.
so you aren’t apple fanboy? I am sure you are. every product is different. the choice is up to us. no matter how it would be great, you are on the top of it. so don’t be silly.
LOL at ScamScum