Samsung, LG Extend Lead in N. American Mobile Phones

Samsung and LG are increasing their lead in the North American cell phone market, said U.S. market researcher Strategy Analytics Friday. The two Korean brands have held the top two positions since passing Motorola in the third quarter of 2008.

Samsung Electronics boosted its market share by 1.2 points to 28.2 percent with sales of 13.8 million phones in the second quarter. LG Electronics strengthened its number 2 position by selling 1.5 million more units to a total of 9.3 million for a 19 percent share. Its gain was the biggest among all cell phone makers for the second quarter.

Apple was a distant third in N. America unit sales with 6.3 million though it claims the top spot for smartphones. The fourth and fifth spots went to Taiwan’s HTC with 5.4 million units and Motorola of the U.S. with 3.7 million.

Nokia, the longtime global leader, saw N. America sales slip to 1.5 million units from 2.6 mil. in the 2nd quarter of 2010. The bulk of its sales came from Asia, with 24.5 mil. units, and in the Middle East/Africa, with 20.5 mil.