According to research from Strategy Analytics, Samsung sold 27.8 million smartphones in the three-month period. This compares to 17.1 million from Apple and 16.8 million from Nokia.
"Samsung's rise has been driven by a blend of elegant hardware designs, popular Android services, memorable sub-brands and extensive global distribution," commented Alex Spektor from Strategy Analytics.
He added: "Samsung has demonstrated that it is possible, at least in the short-term, to differentiate and grow by using the Android ecosystem."
Some 117 million smartphones were sold in the third quarter, a rise of 44 per cent from the same period of 2010.
Earlier this week, ABI Research said that Google's Android platform has overtaken iOS to become the market share leader in mobile application downloads.
Posted by Andre Dixon
