Samsung tops global smartphone market in Aug.: report

Samsung Electronics Co. was the world's top smartphone vendor in August, a report showed Tuesday, as it widens the gap with China's Huawei Technologies Co. amid the pandemic.

The South Korean tech giant accounted for a 22 percent share of the global smartphone market last month, beating Huawei with a 16 percent share, according to industry tracker Counterpoint Research.

The gap of 6 percentage points between the two sides is the largest since February, when China's smartphone market was severely hit by COVID-19 lockdowns, the market researcher said.

Samsung lost its top smartphone vendor status to Huawei in April, but it recaptured the position later, following a recovery in the Indian smartphone market.

Samsung has been expanding its presence in India, the world's second-largest smartphone market, helped by growing anti-China sentiment in the South Asian nation following a border clash between Beijing and New Delhi.

US tech juggernaut Apple Inc. took the third spot with a 12 percent share, followed by China's Xiaomi Corp. with an 11 percent share, according to Counterpoint Research.

Counterpoint Research said the US sanctions against Huawei -- which ban the supply of semiconductors made with US equipment, software and design to the Chinese firm without prior approval from Washington -- could shake up the global smartphone market and give a good opportunity to other brands.

"For Samsung, it will be a good opportunity to raise its smartphone market share, especially in Europe, where the company has been competing fiercely with Huawei in various price bands," Kang Min-soo, an analyst at Counterpoint Research, said. (Yonhap)