Samsung Reaps More Sales of Smartphones

Samsung is making headway as it widened its lead over rival Apple. The South Korea-based company has sold more than 90.4 million mobile phones in the second quarter, a huge 29.5-percent increase.

According to Gartner Research, more than 50 percent of South Korea’s demand for mobile phones is for smartphones. Samsung Galaxy appears to be the most sought-after device, which runs Android software.

The demand for Samsung Galaxy S3 also exceeded the company’s expectations. About 10 million units were sold in just two months since the model was released in May.

Apple, meanwhile, sold close to 29 million iPhones in the last three months. This equates to a 6.9 percent share of the mobile handset market. Samsung’s market share is now at 21.6 percent.

Overall, sales of mobile phones worldwide dipped 2.3 percent. According to Gartner analyst Anshul Gupta, the demand for mobile phones has slowed down in the second quarter of 2012. Gartner Research is a market research firm.

Gupta added that the tough economic times are forcing users to delay purchase of new gadgets. Consumers are also waiting for Apple to launch the next-generation iPhone, which speculations indicate would be launched this September.

Gupta, however, believes that once newer models of mobile phones are launched, the demand for them would significantly increase. He added that Apple and Samsung remain at the forefront of the smartphone market, and would likely remain in that position.

Nokia, meanwhile, is still in second place. Its market share declined 14.8 percent although the company hopes its Lumia smartphones would boost business.