South Korea tech giant Samsung Electronics lost its leadership throne to China’s Guangdong Oppo Electronics Co. in Asian Pacific smartphone market in the fourth quarter as it grappled with the worst tech recall crisis over its newest invention Galaxy Note7 which eventually had to exit from the market over safety risk.

According to U.S. market research firm Strategy Analytics on Sunday, Samsung Electronics took up 9.4 percent share in Asian Pacific smartphone market, ranking fifth in the fourth quarter ended December last year.

The Korean mobile phone maker had maintained its leadership in the region during the first nine months last year in spite of the explosive growth of China’s three stars – Huawei, Oppo, and Vivo propelled by its strategy such as gold-colored Galaxy C series devices designed especially for Chinese smartphone market.

But Samsung Electronics lost its grip in Asian Pacific smartphone market in the fourth after the Galaxy Note 7 crisis that resulted in the company’s first and largest-ever recall program due to the battery defects. Moreover, the Chinese smartphone makers - Oppo and Vivo also expanded their presence in Indian mobile phone market after concentrating their sales efforts in the region.

While the Korean electronics maker was taking staggering steps, Oppo moved up fast to take 12.3 percent market share and dethroned Samsung Electronics. The Chinese smartphone maker neared doubled its share in a year’s time from 6.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2015.

Following Oppo, U.S-based global electronics tycoon Apple Inc. took the second largest share in the Asian Pacific smartphone market with 12.2 percent while China’s Huawei and Vivo tagged behind with shares of 11.1 percent and 10.9 percent, respectively. China’s other smartphone makers Xiaomi and ZTE ranked 6th and 7th with 6.3 percent and 3.3 percent shares, respectively. The combined shares of Oppo and Vivo, affiliates under parent BBK Electronics Corp. reached 23.2 percent, far exceeding that of others.

Shares of Samsung Electronics closed last Friday at 1,973,000 won, up 0.25 percent or 5,000 won from the previous session in Seoul trading.

By Lee Dong-in

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