In Smartphone Sales, the Big Get Bigger

The two biggest smartphone rivals, Samsung Electronics and Apple, can each find reasons to cheer about industry sales numbers.

Samsung recorded its highest share of smartphone shipments to date in the third quarter, when it accounted for 35 percent of the total worldwide, according to Strategy Analytics, a research firm. Samsung shipped 88.4 million smartphones in the three-month period, up from 56.9 million a year earlier, the firm said.

Apple showed more modest gains, with its global shipments growing to 33.8 million from 26.9 million a year earlier. Its market share fell, to 13.4 percent from 15.6 percent last year, while several Chinese brands made advances. Huawei pushed into third place worldwide, with 12.7 million smartphones shipped, up from 7.6 million in the third quarter of 2012. But Apple regained momentum in the last days of the quarter, when it began selling its new iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C in a number of countries.