The Samsung S on Sunday became the first phone to reach two million smartphones sales in Korea. Having launched 6 months ago the Samsung S surpassed iPhones 1.8 million units sold over a much longer 12 month period. While the news is good for Samsung , it was a long time coming with a major slowdown after the company sold 800,000 units over the summer alone.
Furthering the good news for Samsung, they also announced that the Samsung Galaxy S has become the best selling Android device of all time, reaching 9.3 million units worldwide, with 10 million units expected to sell by the end of the year.
It should be noted that Samsung is selling in their own back yard in Korea and the country has a long tradition of buying locally while eliminating as many competitors as possible, almost a pseudo-isolationist type move. Most sales in the region come from Samsung and LG who operate factories and other parts of their businesses in the country.
By using their influence to put a choke hold on wireless carriers, it’s being speculated that Samsung managed to do what very few firms around the world have managed, they strong armed company’s away from the iPhone with the type of zeal Apple has managed in other countries both inside and outside North America.
The biggest issue for Apple however is their lack of CDMA devices, with SK Telecom only offering CDMA service in the country, which means we could see dramatic number changes in 2011 when the iPhone CDMA is eventually released.
