By Cho Mu-hyun
Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest mobile phone maker, said Friday that global sales of its Galaxy smartphone series — Galaxy S and S2 — had surpassed 50 million.
“Selling 50 million is a milestone that indicates the rise and competitiveness of Samsung products on the world stage,” said a spokesman. “For this year, we aim to double our sales over 2011.”
The Korean firm has been dominating the domestic market, but backed by the stellar sales of the Galaxy series of smartphones, has now become a leader in global sales as well.
Samsung had a 29.1 percent share of the global market for the first quarter of this year, the first time it topped rival Apple’s 24.2 percent, according to International Data Corporation. Strategy Analytics says the company sold 92.5 million handsets in the same period.
In the domestic arena, Samsung has been dominating rivals LG Electronics and Pantech, and holds 53 percent based on its internal statistics. Though the Suwon-based firm’s Korean rivals release different percentages, they are in agreement that Samsung is leading the smartphone market. In Korea, a total of 20 million smartphones were sold last year.