LG grabs record 20% of US smartphone market

Business has been good for LG in the US lately. According to a report from Strategy Analytics, the company’s market share in the first quarter of 2017 reached 20 percent for the first time. LG shipped 7.3 million smartphones during the quarter and is currently the third biggest manufacturer in terms of sales in the country.

The tech giant’s market share increased by nearly three percentage points when compared to the same period a year ago. The growth is a result of higher demand for budget-friendly smartphones from the K and X series, as well as for the high-end V20 phablet.

LG expects even better results in the second quarter of the year, thanks to the popular G6. The company said that the flagship, which started selling in April, has been well received in the US so far.

LG is actually not that far behind Samsung in terms of sales in the US. Samsung sold 9 million smartphones during the first quarter and is the second largest manufacturer in the country. Its market share dropped by nearly 3 percentage points when compared with the year before and currently stands at 24.6 percent.

One of the reasons for the lower sales numbers is definitely the Note 7 fiasco, which has done a lot of damage to the company’s reputation. But it looks like Samsung will get back on track quite fast thanks to the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus, which have been selling great so far.

Apple remains the biggest player in the US with sales of 12.6 million units. The iPhone maker’s market share is 34.5 percent, up by 2.3 percentage points from the same period last year.