LG Electronics saw its global market share decline on-year in the third quarter of 2013 due to Chinese firms’ stellar growth, data showed Sunday.

The South Korean electronics giant posted a 4.7 percent market share of the world’s smartphone market with sales of 12 million units in the July-September period to become the fifth-largest vendor, according to the data by technology research firm Strategy Analytics.

It marked a two-notch decrease from a year earlier, when LG Electronics became the world’s third-largest smartphone vendor after No. 1 player Samsung Electronics Co. and Apple Inc.

The decrease came as China-based Huawei jumped into the third spot by shipping 12.7 million smartphones in the third quarter, and Lenovo Group also expanded its sales to become the fourth-largest player by selling 12.22 million units, the data showed.

Other Chinese vendors such as ZTE Corp. and Coolpad were included on the list of the world’s top 10 smartphone makers for the third quarter, reflecting the rising presence of China’s electronics firms in the global market.

The combined market share of five Chinese firms ― Huawei, Lenovo, ZTE, Coolpad and Xiaomi Tech ― came to 18.9 percent in the third quarter.

Market watchers said the rising presence of Chinese firms came as their government provided them with strategic support to promote sales of their goods at home and abroad.

Samsung Electronics, meanwhile, posted the biggest market share of 35.2 percent by selling a record 88.4 million smartphones in the third quarter, the data showed. (Yonhap News)