Samsung Electronics regained its position as the leading smartphone brand in the Southeast Asian market after losing it at the end of last year, but with the growing popularity of Chinese smartphone brands, the company’s shipment volume and market share decreased compared to the same period last year.

According to market research firm, Canalys on Thursday, smartphone shipments in five Southeast Asian countries, including Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia, in January this year stood at seven-point-26 million units, a 20 percent increase from January last year.

Thanks to the launch of its latest Galaxy S24 series, the Korean tech giants shipped one-point-five million units, logging the highest market share of 20 percent and regaining the top market share position in the region after it was overtaken by Chinese company Transsion in December last year.

However, Samsung is lagging behind Chinese companies in terms of growth as its smartphone shipments in Southeast Asia declined eleven percent on-year, with its market share falling by seven percentage points compared to last January.

In contrast, China's Xiaomi's shipment volume surged 128 percent during the same period, while Transsion's shipments rose even further by 190 percent.