South Korean company Samsung announced that it has tripled its smartphone sales in the year 2012. With the recent figures, the company has left behind others such as Lenovo and Apple, which are also considered to be important companies in the Chinese market.

Reports suggest that Samsung sold about 30.6 million phone units in the Chinese market in 2012, which is about three times the 10.9 million units which was sold in 2011. The figure gives Samsung control of 17.7 percent of the Chinese market and puts it solidly ahead of its competitors.

In terms of Samsung’s competition, Lenovo came in the second place with 13.2 percent of the market and Apple finished in the third place with 11 percent. The other Chinese manufacturers Huawei and Coolpad maintained their 9.9 and 9.7 percent market share respectively and Nokia dropped down  from 29.9 percent and currently rests in the seventh spot.

News reports said that this is the first time Samsung has claimed the top spot in the Chinese market.  Industry observers said that the new position that Samsung has reached is due to the efforts of Chinese carriers and the company’s growing brand. China has quickly come up as one of the most competitive electronic markets in the world.