Samsung still No. 1, LG swings back to second place


With more than half of Koreans already owning a smartphone, the three major handset manufacturers have fully joined the race to roll out handsets running on the Long Term Evolution networks.

Samsung Electronics, the world’s top smartphone maker, announced Monday that it sold up to 930,000 units of LTE handsets in Korea as of May. The figure enabled the country’s IT behemoth to maintain its top position here ― an estimated 61.2 percent of the local market.

The firm’s LTE handsets include the Galaxy S2 LTE and the 5.3-inch display Galaxy Note.

“The Galaxy Note daily sales have been recording 23,000 units in May and the total figure of Galaxy Note owners has reached 2.8 million by the end of last month since its release in late November,” said a Samsung official. “The popularity of LTE phones is likely to continue as some others are putting their names on the waiting list for the upcoming Galaxy S3.”

With Samsung continuing to secure its No.1 position in terms of LTE mobile phones as well as smartphones in general, LG Electronics and Pantech are also making full-fledged efforts to take over the No.2 position in LTE phones.

LG Electronics also said Monday that it sold 440,000 handsets in May with 330,000 of the units being LTE phones.

“Since the release of the Optimus LTE in October last year, LG has been regaining its confidence as the second-biggest handset maker with the strengthened lineup of the firm’s Optimus series,” said an LG official.

Although LG suffered from sluggish smartphone sales earlier last year, the company is seeing a rise in market share with its launch of Optimus Vu and Optimus Tag in March as well as the Optimus LTE 2 last month.

“The Optimus series is contributing to our smartphone business and we plan to go global with our new Optimus LTE 2, although we can’t confirm the date at this point,” the official said.

Spicing up the competition, Pantech also unveiled its Vega Racer 2, which is equipped with a one-chip solution, in the country last month.

Pantech reportedly sold up to 280,000 LTE smartphones in the local market last month following the launch of its flagship smartphone. Sales of the company’s Vega Racer 2 exceeded 210,000 units, according to the company.

“The competition surrounding the LTE handsets has intensified to a new level between the three firms, especially over the last month, and it is expected to continue throughout this month with Samsung showcasing its new Galaxy S3 in the Korean market in mid-June,” said an industry source.

By Cho Ji-hyun (sharon@heraldcorp.com)