South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. trumped rivals in the global smartphone market in the third quarter, while its annual sales are likely to drop on-year largely due to stiffer competition from Chinese makers, a report said Wednesday, 

Samsung, the world's top smartphone maker, retained its top spot with a market share of 24.6 percent at the end of September, slightly down from 26.7 percent tallied the previous quarter, according to the latest report by market tracker DRAMeXchange.

U.S. Apple Inc. trailed behind with a 13.7 percent share, also marking a fall from 15.4 percent in the same period, the report said.

The market share of Huawei Technologies Co. of China, in contrast, rose to 8.4 percent from 7.5 percent, taking the third place. 

Although Samsung's global footing remains strong in the smartphone industry, the report said its annual shipments will likely shrink about 1 percent to 333.5 million units in 2015 from last year.

It cited intensifying competition, spurred by fast-growing Chinese handset makers that have churned out cheaper phones, as a key reason for the stagnant growth.

Samsung recently released its new phablet phone Galaxy Note 5 and upgraded the Galaxy S6 Edge Plus, seeking to keep its grip in the smartphone market amid sluggish handset sales.

The world's smartphone market, meanwhile, is forecast to expand at an annual 9.3 percent this year from 2014, with the growth pace expected to slow to 7.7 percent in 2016, the report said. (Yonhap)