Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Inc., two major South Korean tech
companies, are dominating the market for smartphones equipped with large-size
screen panels, industry data showed Sunday.
Samsung Electronics made
up 78 percent of the phablet market during the third quarter of this year, while
LG Electronics accounted for 14 percent, according to the data provided by
Strategy Analytics (SA).
Phablet is a mixed word made from phone and
tablet, referring to smartphones equipped with screens whose corner-to-corner
size is 5 inches or larger.
The market research firm estimated that
about 3.7 million of such large-screen smartphones were sold worldwide during
the third quarter, with Samsung and LG selling 2.89 million and 520,000 units,
respectively.
The global phablet market size remained relatively small
in 2010, with just 100,000 units sold worldwide. Sales exceeded the 3-million
mark last year and will surge to about 17 million units this year, analysts
said.