US tech giant Google Inc.'s smartphone app store, Google Play, posted 4.5 trillion won ($3.92 billion) in sales here last year, data showed Wednesday.

The figure accounts for 58.2 percent of the country's overall mobile app market in 2016, which is estimated at 7.6 trillion won, the Korea Mobile Internet Business Association said.

As Google takes 30 percent of the sales as commission from app developers, industry watchers said the US giant is estimated to have raked in 1.3 trillion won from the South Korean app market.

US tech giant Apple's app store also posted sales of around 2 trillion won, taking up 26.4 percent of the market.

The association said Google Play's local sales are expected to reach 5.3 trillion this year to take up 61.2 percent of the South Korean market. (Yonhap)