Samsung posts record Q3 smartphone shipments

SEOUL - Samsung Electronics shipped a record 88.4 million smartphones in the third quarter to take its global market share above 35 per cent, while rival Apple's slice thinned, research data showed Tuesday.

Samsung's smartphone shipments in the July-September period marked a 55 per cent surge over the same period last year, the independent research firm Strategy Analytics said.

The South Korean tech company's market share swelled to 35.2 per cent from 32.9 per cent in the third quarter of 2012.

Apple posted a 26 per cent spike in shipments over the same period to 33.8 million units. But that failed to keep pace with the industry's overall 45 per cent growth and the California company's market share dipped from 15.6 per cent to 13.4 per cent.

Strategy Analytics said it expected Apple to make up last ground in the fourth quarter on high demand for its new iPhone 5s model.

Apple reported a third consecutive quarterly decline in earnings on Monday, while Samsung last week posted a 26 per cent increase in third-quarter net profit, bolstered by demand for smartphones and memory chips.

The largest shipment growth in the third quarter was recorded by China's Huawei Technologies Co., which shipped 12.7 million units - up 67 per cent from a year ago.