Samsung ranked first in the global smartphone market in August, driven by sales growth in India as the market recovered from a nationwide exclusion, a Counterpoint Research report said Friday.

The South Korean technology giant also won first place in India in July-August, according to Counterpoint’s latest monthly Market Pulse report.

Samsung has now reached its highest market share in India since 2018 by adopting an aggressive online channel strategy to take advantage of opportunities arising from anti-China sentiments in the country, the report said.

“Geopolitical policies and political issues among countries affect the smartphone market in many ways. There will be increased marketing activities to take advantage of opportunities in these regions and segments, ”said Minsoo Kang, research analyst, in a statement.

“As a result, the concentration of top players in the smartphone market will be much stronger. We see that players like Samsung, Apple, Xiaomi and OPPO benefit the most. ”

Although Samsung has long achieved the first place in the Indian market dominated by Xiaomi, the Chinese smartphone maker is showing a significant increase in its market share worldwide, especially in markets where Huawei used to be strongly present, such as Central Eastern Europe.

In the global smartphone market, Samsung has gained a 22 percent share.

In April, Samsung lost first place to Huawei due to the sharp declines in its key markets in India and Europe.

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After Huawei achieved its highest global share of 21 percent in April, Huawei became the second place in the market with 16 percent in August.

Huawei’s market share is expected to decline further in the future due to US trade sanctions, the report said.

Apple has managed to retain its share well in the off-season. With the launch of the new iPhone 12 series on October 13, Apple’s sales are expected to rise, but only in November, as the launch is later than previous years.

The long life cycle of the iPhone 11 series and the successful new iPhone SE will help Apple bridge the gap so far, Counterpoint said.