Samsung Electronics took up 1.1 percent of China's smartphone market in the first quarter of 2019, data showed on May 5, recovering its 1 percent level in a year.

According to the data compiled by industry tracker Strategy Analytics, Samsung Electronics sold 1 million smartphones in China over the January-March period.

 

After hitting 1.3 percent in the first quarter of 2018, Samsung's presence in China has been sluggish, taking up only 0.7 percent of the market in the fourth quarter of that year. For all of 2018, Samsung's share came to 0.8 percent, falling sharply from 2.1 percent posted in 2017.

Samsung Electronics has been facing challenges in Asia's No. 1 economy as Chinese players have been rolling out price-competitive smartphones and narrowing their technology gap with leading players.

The latest rebound in Samsung's market share apparently followed the positive response to the latest flagship model, the Galaxy S10.

Released in early March, industry watchers said the sales of the Galaxy S10 are estimated to be 20-30 percent higher than the predecessor.

Samsung plans to further expand its share down the road through budget models, such as the Galaxy A series.

Huawei Technologies, meanwhile, saw its market share reach 33.7 percent in China in the first quarter, up from 22.5 percent posted a year earlier. 

By Song Seung-hyun and newswires (ssh@heraldcorp.com)