Samsung and Apple battle for South Korean market


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In the last week, South Korean smartphone subscriptions have surpassed 20 million.

As smartphones become an integral part of more and more peoples lives, the competition within the smartphone market has become increasingly intense, as competitors such as Samsung and Apple fight for dominance.

This figure, however, does not necessarily reflect if Samsung actually surpassed Apple in smartphones sale. While Samsung shipped more phones to warehouses during this period, it is not clear that more Samsung phones were actually sold.

Apple does report sales numbers regarding its iPhones, while Samsung will not openly disclose sales figures. Therefore, it is difficult to make any statement with certainty regarding which company holds a stronger position in the smartphone market.

Though Samsung and Apple are competitors, Apple continues to use many Samsung components in its iPhone and iPad products. In 2010, Apple spent nearly $5.7 billion on Samsung parts. Apple is currently trying to move away from using Samsung components, but the company still continues to much Samsung-manufactured hardware.

Samsung produces significantly more smartphones than Apple – selling phones that run Google’s Android operating system as well as phones that run Microsoft’s Windows Phone operating system. Apple, in contrast, only offers a few varieties of its iPhone.

Samsung and Apple have been engaging in a number of conflicts regarding patents in the past months. These patent wars have been fought on a global scale – in Europe, Asia, Australia, and the U.S., with each company accusing the other of using its patented mobile phone technologies. In Korea, Samsung has expressed efforts to The Korea Times about its plans to block the iPhone 5 from Korean markets.