South Korea’s tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. was considered one of the leading brands in major overseas markets, data showed Friday, reflecting its rising presence in the global market.

According to the data by London-based market researcher YouGov, Samsung made the top 10 list of popular brands in 12 countries among 15 places surveyed.

YouGov measures the brand image of companies through its Buzz score rating, which is based on a survey asking respondents whether they have heard anything positive or negative about the brand in the past two weeks, either through advertising, news or word of mouth.

The respondents give scores ranging from 100 to minus 100, with a zero score indicating equal positive and negative feedback. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percent, YouGov said.

Samsung ranked as the top brand in Saudi Arabia, and No. 2 in China, Germany and France, the data showed. The South Korean tech giant was the third most popular brand in Britain and the United Arab Emirates.

YouGov attributed Samsung’s rising presence to the increased popularity of its Galaxy smartphone line-up along with its Galaxy NX smartcameras.

Samsung also made the top 10 list in Brazil, Denmark, Finland, Mexico, Norway and Sweden, the market researcher said, implying the company’s market presence is expanding in most of the continents.

The world’s No. 1 maker of smartphones, meanwhile, failed to make the list in three countries ― the U.S., Japan and the Netherlands.

Other global players such as Google Inc., YouTube, Amazon.com, and Apple Inc. also made the top 10 list in more than three countries. Market researcher Strategy Analytics earlier said Samsung’s shipments of smartphones are expected to reach 398 million units in 2014 to take up 34.6 percent of the global market, maintaining its market dominance. (Yonhap News)