Samsung retained its title as the smartphone king for the third quarter this year, with Apple coming in at second place, Fortune.com reports.
The Seoul, South Korea-based tech giant has sold 84.5 million units from July to September 2015. The figure is 6.1 percent higher than the number of phones Samsung sold in the same quarter last year. Of the total market share, Samsung has the biggest slice of the piece at 23.8 percent.
Meanwhile, the Cupertino, California-based Apple has sold 48 millions smartphones in the same period. While the number is significantly lower than the total units its Korean rival has disposed, Apple's gains are much higher this year compared to what they made in last year's third quarter, with a 22.2 percent jump. Experts say that the surge indicates that the Apple iPhone 6 is the brand's most successful phone to date.
Fortune also pointed out that Apple has made the biggest profits in the third quarter this year than any vendor.
Meanwhile, while the name sounds unfamiliar with North American consumers, Chinese brand Huawei is making strides against other brands. This year's third quarter saw Huawei selling 26.5 million smartphones, indicating a very fast and massive shipment growth of 60.9 percent versus the same period last year.
For the second consecutive quarter, Huawei edged fellow China-based smartphone makers Lenovo (including the Motorola brand) and Xiaomi.
While the bulk of Huawei's products are composed of entry-level smartphones, the brand is slowly introducing mid-range to high-end devices with prices around $400 to $500. In fact, sales of its mid to high-end units, such as the Honor 6 Plus and the Ascend P8, jumped to 25 percent from last year.
Experts are also on the lookout for Huawei's entry to the North American market. The Chinese smartphone manufacturer has partnered with Google for the Nexus 6 project. The smartphone was recently launched earlier this month and is enjoying Google's extensive marketing machinery.