Faced with an expanding market and growing consumer demand for cheaper options, South Korea’s bottled-water market leader Samdasoo has a stake below 40 percent in the country’s drinking water market for the first time, industry data showed Friday.

Samdasoo, a drinking water brand manufactured by the Jeju Special Self-Governing Province Development Corporation, has topped the market since its launch in 1998, having secured a 45.7 percent stake in the 740 billion won ($626 million) bottled-water market as of 2015. 

But amid fierce competition with rivals such as Lotte’s Icis and Nongshim’s Baeksansu, as well as newer private brands from retailers like E-Mart, Samdasoo’s market share fell to 41.9 percent in 2017 and 40.1 percent last year. In April, its market share came to 38.5 percent.

Market experts said a recent accident at a Samdasoo manufacturing facility and a subsequent delay in its delivery service had also influenced Samdasoo’s dwindling market share.

Meanwhile, Lotte’s Icis recorded a constant rise in its market share, from 10.4 percent in 2017 to 13.9 percent in April. Nongshim’s Baeksansu also saw its market share increase from 7.7 percent to 8.6 percent in the same period.

Market data showed that the combined market share of private drinking-water brands such as My Water from E-Mart Traders and Tamsasoo from Coupang grew to 20.1 percent in April from 18.5 percent in 2017.

By Kim Da-sol (ddd@heraldcorp.com)