The combined production volume of China’s top three smartphone makers - Huawei, Oppo and Vivo - in the third quarter surpassed that of South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics for the first time, industry data showed.

According to market research firm IDC, Samsung Electronics manufactured 72.5 million smartphones, giving it a 20 percent market share of the global smartphone market, during the July-September period.

Meanwhile, the three Chinese firms together produced 80.1 million smartphone units, taking up 22.1 percent of the global market. Huawei manufactured 33.6 million units, followed by Oppo at 25.3 million units and Vivo at 21.2 million units.

In the second quarter, Samsung’s market share stood at 22.4 percent while the combined share of the three Chinese firms reached 20.8 percent. Samsung’s loss in market share was likely led by the Galaxy Note 7 recall that took place during the third quarter, the IDC said.