Samsung Electronics Co., the world's largest smartphone maker, logged the largest revenue among global IT firms during the third quarter of the year and was the second most profitable player, industry data showed on Monday.

According to the data, Samsung posted a record 59.08 trillion won ($55.66 billion) in sales in the July-September period, backed by strong demand for its Galaxy smartphone line-up.

Its archrival Apple Inc, came in second with sales totaling 40.22 trillion won in the third quarter.

Samsung Electronics shipped a record number of smartphones worldwide in the third quarter of the year on the back of its diversified product mix, earlier data showed.

According to the data compiled by research firm Strategy Analytics, Samsung Electronics shipped a record 88.4 million smartphones in the third quarter, compared with 76 million in the previous quarter.

The South Korean smartphone maker grabbed a record 35.2 percent market share in the July-September period, driven by solid demand for the new Galaxy Note 3 phablet and for mass-market devices like the Galaxy Y.

Samsung ranked second in the third quarter in terms of profitability with 10.16 trillion won in operating income, the data showed. Apple logged an operating income worth 10.76 trillion won, the largest among IT players.

Meanwhile, in terms of operating income to sales, Microsoft topped the list at 34.2 percent, followed by Apple with 26.8 percent, Google Inc. with 23.1 percent and Samsung Electronics with 17.2 percent, the data showed. (Yonhap News)