China has become the biggest export market for Samsung Electronics, generating over 30 percent of its revenue in the first half.

According to industry sources on Sunday, Samsung Electronics reported 83.92 trillion won ($74.87 billion) in sales during the January-June period, of which 32.7 percent were made from China. The revenue from the North American market took up the second largest share of 26 percent.

Samsung Electronics’ revenue in the Chinese market has continued to grow in recent years. The company earned a mere 18.5 percent of its entire sales from China five years ago, but the share has steadily expanded to 20.6 percent in 2014, 23.4 percent in 2015, 23.9 percent in 2016 and 28.3 percent in 2017. The share of the U.S demand has been on a steady fall in recent years, sliding to 30.2 percent in 2017 from 31.8 percent in 2016.

The rise in China’s share has come in line with higher demand from Chinese IT companies for Samsung’s high-end memory chips with their growing market influence. Mounting protectionism on the global trade front that started in the U.S. also has made it difficult for the Korean tech giant to expand sales in America and Europe, the booming market for smartphones, TVs and other electronics in the past.

China’s smartphone maker Huawei became among the top five clients of Samsung Electronics in the first half, the company revealed in a regulatory filing recently. About 11 percent of its sales were generated by the five clients including Huawei, U.S.-based Apple and Verizon Wireless, Germany’s Deutsche Telekom AG and Hong Kong’s Techtronics, according to the company.

Samsung’s top five buyers over the last two years were Apple, Verizon, Deutsche Telekom, Best Buy Co. and Sprint Corp.

But the increase in Chinese market share also puts the company at that much risk when Chinese companies turn to local products under Beijing-led campaign to groom semiconductor industry. Samsung which once dominated the smartphone market fell to the bottom-tier in China upon the ascension of domestic players.

By Chun Gyung-woon and Lee Ha-yeon

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]