Samsung clinches largest share in N. American handset market last year

SEOUL, Feb. 16 (Yonhap) -- Samsung Electronics Co., the world's second-largest
mobile phone maker, clinched the top spot in the North American mobile handset
market on an annual basis for the first time last year since its entry there in
1997, a U.S.-based researcher said Tuesday.

According to Strategy Analytics (SA), handset shipments to the region by Samsung
came to a record 48.50 million units in 2009, giving Samsung a 25.7 percent share
of the North American market.
During the reported year, Samsung beat out Motorola Inc., the No. 1 mobile
handset seller in North America in 2008, some 13 years after the South Korean
company entered the lucrative market.
It also marked the first time that Samsung shipped more than 40 million mobile
handsets a year to North America and took more than a 25 percent share of the
market.
Motorola, the top mobile handset retailer in 2008 with 39.9 million units sold in
North America, saw its market share fall 6 percentage points to 16.1 percent last
year after selling 30.3 million units, trailing Samsung and LG Electronics Inc.,
the world's third-largest mobile handset maker, with a market share of 20.9
percent.
Samsung's rise to the top position is attributed to its solid competitiveness in
the industry buffered by the variety of its phones available in North America,
the world's largest and most competitive mobile phone market, industry sources
said.
kimnh@yna.co.kr
(END)

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