Samsung Electronics Co. was relegated to the runner-up spot in the market for connected TV devices, which includes smart TVs, streamers and gaming consoles, in the fourth quarter of 2020, a report showed Wednesday.

Samsung, the world's largest TV maker, shipped 11.9 million units of connected TV devices in the October-December period, up 2 percent from a quarter earlier, to account for a 10.9 percent market share, according to industry researcher Strategy Analytics.

Despite increase in sales, Samsung gave up its top spot to Amazon.com Inc., which sold 13.2 million units of connected TV devices in the last three months of 2020, up 45 percent from a quarter earlier, for a 12.1 percent market share.

"Amazon has had great success with its Fire TV Stick 4K, which became the world's best-selling digital media streamer device in 2020," Strategy Analytics said.

Sony Corp. came in third with a market share of 8.2 percent after its shipments soared 116 percent quarter-on-quarter to 9 million units in the fourth quarter with the launch of the PlayStation 5 console.

Its Japanese compatriot and video game giant Nintendo Co. ranked fourth with a 7.7 percent market share after its device sales jumped 58 percent quarter-on-quarter to 8.4 million units.

South Korean home appliance maker LG Electronics Inc. was fifth on the list with a market share of 5.9 percent after its sales increased 6 percent quarter-on-quarter to 6.5 million units.

Global sales of connected TV devices soared 34 percent quarter-on-quarter to hit a new record of 109.1 million units in the fourth quarter of 2020, Strategy Analytics said. Compared to a year ago, they increased 9 percent.

For the whole 2020, sales of connected TV devices reached 305.3 million units, up 7.6 percent from a year earlier.

Strategy Analytics said 2020 sales of smart TVs stood at 186 million units and that of media streamers reached 81 million units, both record highs.

It added China's TCL Technology Group Corp. moved to second place behind Samsung in sales of smart TVs last year after getting ahead of LG.

Strategy Analytics predicted the connected TV devices market to grow further this year as more consumers are expected to move toward internet-based video platforms. (Yonhap)