Samsung Ranks No.1 in North American Smartphone Market in Q3, Apple's Home Turf

Occupying 33.7% Market Share... 2nd Place Apple, 3rd Place LG Electronics

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] Samsung Electronics has overtaken Apple to claim the top spot in the North American smartphone market for the third quarter.

According to market research firm Strategy Analytics (SA) on the 9th, Samsung Electronics' market share in the North American smartphone market for the third quarter was 33.7%, ranking first. This represents an increase of about 6 percentage points compared to the previous quarter (27.3%) and the same period last year (27.0%).

Apple ranked second with 30.2%, and LG Electronics ranked third with 14.7%. The total smartphone shipments in North America for the third quarter were 33.7 million units, of which Samsung Electronics shipped 11.2 million units, Apple 10.6 million units, and LG Electronics 4.7 million units.

This is the first time in three years since the second quarter of 2017 that Samsung Electronics has taken the number one spot in the North American smartphone market. Apple, which usually unveils new products in September and releases them in October, launched about a month later this year, allowing Samsung to capture the third quarter market share.

In the third quarter, Samsung and LG Electronics each released flagship new products in September and October, respectively, and strengthened their mid-to-low-end product lines, which is interpreted as having boosted their market shares. Apple is highly likely to reclaim the top spot in the fourth quarter results, which will reflect iPhone new product shipments.

Samsung Electronics also ranked first in the overall smartphone market for the third quarter. According to SA, Samsung regained first place with a market share of 21.7% and shipments of 80.4 million units, surpassing Huawei (14.0%). Apple ranked third with 12.6%.