Samsung Electronics Co. has sold more than 10 million smartphones in China in the first three months of this year, retaining its position as the top smartphone seller in the world's most populous country for the fifth straight quarter, data showed Monday.

Samsung sold 12.5 million smartphones in China between January and March, accounting for a 18.5 percent market share, up 2.2 percentage points from the previous quarter, according to the data compiled by Strategy Analytics, a U.S. market research group.

It is the first time that Samsung has sold more than 10 million smartphones in China in a single quarter, according to the data.

China's Huawei Technologies Co. overtook local competitor Lenovo for the second position by selling 8.1 million units. Lenovo took the third place by selling 7.9 million units

Lenovo is followed by Chinese manufacturer Coolpad and another local rival ZTE, which sold 7 million units and 6.4 million units, respectively.

The data showed that iPhone maker Apple Inc. took sixth place by selling 6.1 million units in China, home to the world's largest smartphone market by volume.

Chinese consumers bought 67.4 million smartphones in the first quarter, accounting for about 32 percent of all shipments worldwide.

Meanwhile, LG Electronics, the world's No. 3 smartphone maker, has sold 100,000 smartphones for a 0.1 percent market share, its worst performance in China to date.

Shares of Samsung Electronics were trading at 1.495 million won ($1,326) on the Seoul bourse as of 11:35 a.m., up 0.61 percent from the previous session. (Yonhap News)