SEOUL, March 15 (Yonhap) - The South Korean mobile phone maker, LG Electronics Inc., ranked 3rd. position in the U.S. market for smartphones in 2012, thanks to strong sales of its new high-end brands.
In terms of sales, LG accounted for 7.1 percent of the smartphone market last year, preceded by their biggest rivals Apple Inc., with 37.6 percent and Samsung Electronics, with 26.6 percent according to data from market researcher Strategy Analytics.
Last year, LG market exceeded the Taiwanese smartphone maker, HTC Corp., and the Canadian maker of smartphones, BlackBerry.
It is the first time that LG has become the third largest vendor of smartphones in the U.S. market since its penetration in the segment of high-end phones.
The ranking of LG in the U.S. market rose to fifth in 2011 compared to seventh in 2009 and sixth in 2010.
LG said the stellar performance last year is attributed to the launch of its models of high-end smartphones, including the phone Connect 4G VoLTE service, offering voice calls through the network of long-term evolution (LTE , according to its acronym in English) of fourth generation.
Moreover, the favorable reviews of LG's LTE patents contributed to an increase in sales of its smartphones, LG said.
The U.S. investment bank Jefferies & Co. and research firm technology and intellectual property TechIPm LLC. rated in 2011 and 2012, respectively, to LG Electronics as the world's largest holder of technology patents related to fourth-generation LTE network.
