By Kim Yoo-chul
Staff Reporter

Samsung Electronics said Thursday its LED TV market share in the United States reached 95 percent in the first half of the year.

Citing data from a market research firm, the company claimed it is on stable route in North America's LED TV market, capitalizing on models over 40-inchs.

The research firm NPD Group said Samsung Electronics' market share stood at 94.8 percent in the first six months of the year in terms of the number of LED TVs sold in America. Japan's Sony trailed with a mere 2.8 percent.

LED TV uses a light-emitting diode (LED) as a backlight, creating a clearer image on the screen than mainstream LCD TVs.

Despite consumers worried about rising unemployment and cutting back on spending, Samsung this year introduced a new line of large-screen LCD TVs with LEDs that cost some $600 more than traditional flat-screen sets.

Samsung has been sold more than 650,000 LED TVs globally since it started production in March. The buoyant LED TV sales strongly helped the company's TV business gain higher profits in the second quarter.

"The result means Samsung has soft landed in the new TV industry," said Kim Yang-kyu, a senior vice president.

yckim@koreatimes.co.kr