South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. claimed the top spot in the Chinese smartphone market for the first time in 2012 by nearly tripling its sales in the world’s largest market, industry data showed Sunday.

Samsung Electronics sold 30.06 million smartphones in China last year, up from 10.90 million units a year earlier, garnering a 17.7 percent market share, according to the data by market researcher Strategy Analytics.

Last year’s market share represents a 5.3 percentage point increase from the previous year. It also marks the first time that Samsung Electronics has become the top smartphone seller in the Chinese market since it started selling the device in 2009.

Market watchers attributed Samsung’s landmark market share to the company’s global brand recognition and its efforts to boost cooperation with Chinese mobile operators. (Yonhap News)