iPhone 6 and Plus Propel Apple Juggernaut Against Samsung in South Korea

Riding high on successful launch of iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, Apple's market share rose in Japan, China and in archrival Samsung's home turf, South Korea, last year.

According to CNET, Apple captured 51 percent of the smartphone in Japan while it accounted for 33 percent sales in South Korea last November. Apple global sales grew 26 percent annually when it crossed the 20 million unit mark in November. The rise in sales is being attributed to success of large form factor phones iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.

"Apple's iPhone market share soared and reached record levels in Japan and Korea markets. In Japan, one of the most premium smartphone markets in the world, Apple captured more than half of the smartphone sales in October as well as November. Japan has been one of the strongest market for Apple and it is becoming increasingly difficult for competition to challenge Apple's dominance in near- to mid-term," research firm Counterpoint which arrived at the numbers, noted in its blog post.

In South Korea where Samsung has held sway for several years Apple touched new heights as foreign brands had it tough against the homegrown brand.

"No foreign brand has gone beyond the 20% market share mark in the history of Korea's smartphone industry. 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" above screens) earnestly needed a large screen iPhone for quite a time and now this thirst has been quenched," said Counterpoint's Research Director Tom Kang.

Had supply of iPhones been better, Apple's share could have touched 40 percent, furthering weakening the 46 percent that Samsung garnered during the same period.