South Korean smartphone makers are rapidly losing ground to Chinese rivals in China with first-quarter sales of Samsung Electronics Co.’s smartphones in the world’s largest smartphone market halved year over year and LG Electronics Inc. failing to join the top-seller club.

According to global digital device market research company Strategy Analytics (SA) on Tuesday, Samsung Electronics sold 3.4 million units of smartphones in the Chinese smartphone market in the first three months of this year, halved from 7.0 million units in the same period of last year. Accordingly, the world’s largest smartphone maker’s market share in the country plunged to 3.1 percent (eighth place) in the quarter ended March from 6.7 percent (sixth place) a year ago.

The Korean tech giant’s descent in the Chinese smartphone market comes after not only have China’s top three smartphone brands - Huawei, Oppo and Vivo - further tightened their grip on the market but also have emerging Chinese companies like Gionee and Meizu rapidly expanded their market share. Sales volume of another Chinese brand Xiaomi have sharply decreased, but its market share was higher than that of Samsung Electronics. Apple that saw its first-quarter sales in the country fall by over 3 million units during the same period has managed to stay ahead of its Korean rival.

Another major reason behind Samsung Electronics` sluggish performance in China is its tarnished brand image following the recall of fire-prone Galaxy Note 7 premium phone last year, market analysts said. Samsung Electronics has been going all out to regain trust of consumers in the world’s biggest smartphone market since it launched the Galaxy S8 in the country in mid-May. Samsung Electronics’ mobile chief Ko Dong-jin replaced the company’s top sales manager in China earlier this year, reflecting Samsung Electronics’ strong will to recover its sales. “Even if it takes time, we will prepare calmly and restore our market share in China," Ko pledged earlier.

Another leading Korean smartphone maker LG Electronics has failed to crack the list of top smartphone brands in China in the first quarter, as Chinese companies have grown stronger in online sales beyond in-store sales, giving less room for LG Electronics, which heavily relies on online sales in China. LG Electronics recently decided not to release its latest flagship smartphone G6 in China.

By Lee Dong-in

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