Samsung's Galaxy S eclipses iPhone in Japan in Q1, 2011

The iPhone is a huge hit in Japan, but it's been eclipsed. That's correct, the Samsung Galaxy S, perhaps the most successful single Android handset to date, outsold the iPhone in Japan in Q1 2011.

Neil Mawston, Director at Strategy Analytics, said:

“Strategy Analytics believes that the healthy demand for the Android-powered Galaxy S at NTT DoCoMo drove Samsung growth in Japan. Samsung is the main player behind surging Android smartphone sales, followed by Sharp. Japan had always had a unique competitive landscape, but is now looking more and more like any other advanced smartphone market in the world as Android has flown by iOS in just three quarters.”

Meanwhile, Tom Kang, Director of the Handset Country Share Tracker service at Strategy Analytics, added,

“The Japanese market had always been tough to crack for foreign vendors as all previous attempts had failed. With smartphones, things are changing rapidly. First, Apple shook up the market with the iPhone, and now, for the first time, Samsung, is shipping more handsets than most local vendors, such as NEC, Casio and Kyocera.”

Can Samsung follow up with the Samsung Galaxy S II, perhaps, or some other handset? Android has never been about single hit handsets, instead seeing a number of different handsets carry the ball in a group effort to overtake iOS. This finding about the Galaxy S is therefore extremely interesting.

Via: IntoMobile