Market watchers attributed LG's robust sales performance to the rising popularity of the G series, including the flagship G3, the G3 Stylus and the G3 Beat.
LG's smartphone shipments have tripled since 2011. The company shipped 20.2 million smartphones in 2011, according to data compiled by market researcher Strategy Analytics (SA).
In 2013, LG ranked fourth with a 5.1 percent share in the global smartphone market, after China's Huawei. It retained the No. 4 spot in the third quarter of 2014, while another Chinese rival Xiaomi placed third, the SA data showed.
Competition among the three smartphone makers - LG, Xiaomi and Huawei - is expected to become fiercer this year, market watchers said.
However, prospects for LG are bright as growth in smartphone sales in China has slowed down since the July-September period last year, market watchers said. China with a population of more than 1.3 billion, is the world's largest smartphone market.
Samsung Electronics maintained the top position in the global smartphone market in the third quarter with a 24.4 percent share, followed by Apple Inc. with 12.7 percent, said Gartner, an American information technology research and advisory firm.
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
