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Apple’s iPhone sales reach records in Korea, Japan

January 22, 2015
(Courtesy of Apple)

(Courtesy of Apple)

Since the release of the iPhone 6 line, Apple has reasserted its authority in the high-end smartphone market by selling over 20 million units globally.

The tech giant has exceeded its own sales records not only in the U.S., but also in South Korea and Japan according to a report released on Wednesday from Counterpoint, a global market research firm.

In South Korea, the tables are beginning to turn as consumers have been moving away from Samsung devices and finding a renewed interest in Apple’s latest offering.

In September of 2014, Samsung held over 60 percent of the market share while Apple was at less than 15 percent .

The following month, Samsung saw their share drop to 46 percent while Apple’s rose to 33 percent.

(Courtesy of Counterpoint Market Research)

(Courtesy of Counterpoint Market Research)

Although Samsung is still holding onto the majority, the landscape is unprecedented.

“No foreign brand has gone beyond the 20 percent market share mark in the history of Korea’s smartphone industry,”  said Counterpoint’s Korean research director Tom Kang in a public statement. “It has always been dominated by the global smartphone leader, Samsung. But iPhone 6 and 6 Plus have made a difference here, denting the competition’s phablet sales. Korea being the world’s highest penetrated phablet market [handsets with 5 inches above screens] earnestly needed a large screen iPhone for quite a time and now this thirst has been quenched.”

Kang later noted that Apple could have performed better if they had the supply to back up the demand in South Korea.

(Courtesy of Counterpoint Market Research)

(Courtesy of Counterpoint Market Research)

As for Japan’s smartphone market, the iPhone 6 put Apple as the top dog going from 20 to 51 percent in the course of three months.

The move knocked Sony from the majority share position and the trend looks like it will be that way for months to come.