Samsung to top Apple in smartphone market in 2013

South Korea-based tech behemoth Samsung Electronics Co. will likely see its share of the world smartphone market far outpace that of iPhone maker Apple Inc. this year with new Galaxy devices set to hit the market, data showed Wednesday.

Samsung is expected to ship 320.4 million units of smartphones worldwide in 2013, compared with an estimated 159 million units of the iPhone shipped by Apple, according to the data by market researcher Strategy Analytics.

LG Electronics Inc. of South Korea comes next with 48 million units and Huawei Technologies Co. of China ranks fourth with 42.7 million.

Worldwide shipments of smartphones in 2013 are forecast to reach 850 million units, up 29 percent from 659 million units a year earlier, according to the data.

Samsung will take up 37.7 percent of the global market, followed by Apple with 18.7 percent, LG with 5.6 percent and Huawei with 5 percent.

Samsung’s share remained at 8 percent for the second straight year in 2010, while Apple enjoyed a 15.9 percent share. But the South Korean company first surpassed Apple in 2011 with a 19.9 percent share compared with the latter’s 19 percent.

Samsung is estimated to have garnered a 32.2 percent share last year, as Apple placed second with 21 percent, the data showed.

Market watchers said Samsung’s share will rise further on new releases of its flagship Galaxy S4 and Galaxy Note 3 within this year, while Apple’s latest iPhone 5 failed to meet its sales target.

“Customers’ preference for Apple products has recently been on the decline due to a lack of big improvements,” said Park Young-joo, an analyst from Woori Investment & Securities Co. “The upcoming Galaxy devices will help Samsung expand its market share.” (Yonhap News)