Samsung Electronics Co. retained its No. 1 spot in
terms of global market share of flat-panel TV sales during the first quarter of this year, a report showed Sunday.
According to the report by market research firm DisplaySearch, Samsung Electronics sold 8.87 million units of flat-panel TVs during the January-March period, making up the largest 18.5 percent of global sales.
Its hometown rival LG Electronics Inc. came in second by selling 6.76 million flat-panel TVs, accounting for 14.1 percent. The two South Korean electronics giants commanded a combined 32.6 percent during the first quarter, beating their Japanese rivals in the TV market, the report showed.
Japanese electronics maker Sony Corp. ranked third by selling 4.51 million TVs,followed by Sharp Corp. and Panasonic Corp. with 3.41 million and 3.28 million,respectively. Their combined market share came to 23.4 percent, the report showed.
Samsung and LG saw their market shares grow 0.1 percentage point and 1.5 percentage points from the previous quarter, while Japanese rivals struggled to hold their ground.
Sony and Sharp saw their market shares fall 2 percentage points and 0.3 percentage points over the same period.
During the first quarter, a total of 47.9 million units of flat-panel TVs were sold worldwide, up 8.8 percent from the same period a year earlier, the report showed.