South Korea's annual smartphone sales are forecast to reach 7 million units by the end of this year on the back of solid sales of new smartphone models, industry sources said Sunday.
The combined sales of major smartphone manufacturers tallied late last month came to 6.8 million, compared with 800,000 units as of end
-2009, according to the sources.
At the current rate, the local market is forecast to reach 7 million by end-year, marking one of the fastest growths in the global smartphone sector.
The 2010 growth is attributed to a slew of new models, such as Samsung Electronics Co.'s Galaxy S and Apple Inc.'s iPhone 4, the sources said. About 30 new models were rolled out in the local market this year, they added.
By company, Samsung Electronics, the world's second-largest mobile phone maker, topped the list with about 3 million in sales. The robust sales were fueled by the Galaxy S smartphones, which sold 775,000 units locally since its launch in June, the sources said.
U.S.-based Apple came next with some 1.6 million units sold this year, followed by local firms Pantech Co. and LG Electronics Inc. with
800,000 units and 400,000 units, respectively.
Other overseas-based suppliers such as U.S.'s Motorola Inc. and Taiwan's HTC Corp. were included among top sellers. Canada's Research In Motion Ltd., however, lost steam in the local market with sales of their hallmark Blackberry smartphones totaling 40,000 units as of end-November.