Samsung maintains China smartphone market lead in Q1

Samsung Electronics has maintained its dominance in China's smartphone market for the fifth straight quarter and broke its own record by selling more than 10 million smartphones in a single quarter.

Citing data by U.S. research firm Strategy Analytics, The Korea Herald reported Monday Samsung sold 12.5 million smartphones in China between January and March this year. This accounted for an 18.5 percent market share, up 2.2 percentage points from the previous quarter, it noted.

This is also the first time Samsung sold more than 10 million smartphones in China in a single quarter, according to the research firm.

Huawei Technologies, in the meantime, had overtaken local competitor Lenovo, to come in second place with 8.1 million units sold. Lenovo took third place with 7.9 million units, followed by Chinese manufacturer Coolpad and local rival ZTE at 7 million units and 6.4 million units, respectively.

Apple's iPhone took sixth place, selling 6.1 million smartphones in the country. This report contrasts with an earlier one from Canalys, which placed Apple in fifth place.

Another South Korean manufacturer, LG Electronics, sold 100,000 smartphones for 0.1 percent market share, reportedly its worst performance in China to date.

Samsung had been dominating China's smartphone market since last year, with device sales nearly tripling from 10.9 million in 2011 to 30.06 million in 2012, and holding a 17.7 percent market share, according to a previous Strategy Analytics report released last December.