Samsung Maintains Unrivaled 1st Place in Latin America Smartphone Market in Q1 with 42.4% Share

[Asia Economy Reporter Koo Eun-mo] Samsung Electronics maintained its No. 1 market share in the Latin American smartphone market in the first quarter.

According to global market research firm Counterpoint Research on the 15th, Samsung Electronics' market share in the Latin American smartphone market in the first quarter of this year was 42.4%, up 4.5 percentage points from the same period last year, securing the top spot. The increase in sales is attributed to the newly revamped Galaxy A series this year and aggressive marketing of the Galaxy S21 series.

Motorola rose to second place with a market share of 21.8%, growing 7.7 percentage points compared to last year. Motorola's sales increased by 88% year-over-year, which is analyzed as a reflection of benefits from Huawei's absence. Xiaomi, ranked third, showed a slight slowdown with a market share of 8.4%, up only 1.1 percentage points compared to the same period last year. This is believed to be due to intensified competition as Chinese brands newly entered some countries such as Colombia, Chile, and Mexico.

The overall Latin American smartphone market also grew by 22.1% compared to the same period last year. Samsung Electronics and Motorola drove growth by launching new models, and the entry of new Chinese companies into the market also contributed to the growth.

Tina Lu, a researcher at Counterpoint Research, forecasted, "The shortage of smartphone components such as chipsets is expected to continue this year as it did last year, but this will mostly affect regional brands with weaker purchasing power." She added, "Typically, the first quarter sees a market decline due to lower sales after the year-end peak season, but major companies like Samsung actively launched new products, and brands rushed to enter the market, revitalizing it. This shows that the market is recovering to some extent despite difficult circumstances such as COVID-19."

Meanwhile, except for Chile, all South American countries recorded double-digit growth compared to the same period last year. Pav Sharma, a researcher at Counterpoint Research, explained, "Despite the economic downturn caused by the pandemic, the perception of smartphones as essential items has steadily increased consumer demand. However, this affected smartphone purchase prices, and manufacturers quickly responded to these market changes by expanding entry-level product lines."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.