By Star Chang, posted Mar 11, 2013 at 11:55 PM, 409 views,

Samsung Beat Nokia to Seize the Top Spot in China’s Smartphone Market

South Korean electronics giant Samsung took top spot in China’s smartphone market in 2012, after sales of its devices nearly tripled from 10.9 million in 2011 to 30.06 million last year. According to the data by market researcher Strategy Analytics, Samsung held 17.7 percent market share in 2012, which was a jump of 5.3 percent from the year before. This also marked the first time it topped the Chinese smartphone market since entering the market in 2009, thanks to global brand recognition and increased cooperation with Chinese carriers. Samsung’s rise in China was at the expense of rival phonemaker Nokia. The Finnish phonemaker, which was No. 1 in 2011 with 29.9 percent market share, plunged to 3.7 percent last year to take seventh place …

The No. 2 smartphone brand in China for 2012 was PC maker Lenovo, with 13.2 percent market share, which represented a 4 percent growth from the year before. Apple was third with 11 percent, followed by Chinese telecom equipment manufacturer Huawei with 9.9 percent. Chinese manufacturer Coolpad ranked at fifth place with 9.7 percent market share. It will be interesting to see how Samsung continue the domination. Last week, the Chinese government publicly expressed its concern over the Android operating system, saying it is strictly controlled by Google despite being open source. As for Nokia, the ex-market leader is struggling hard, they just couldn’t supply enough Windows Phone Device for Chinese consumer. Nokia’s market share is properly relying on super cheap features phone and the outdated Nokia 5230. We’re happy to hear Apple is in top three. Previously, data from research firm IDC showed that Apple ranked no.6 in 2012 third quarter ranking.

SOURCE: Yonhap News Agency via TNW