Huawei shipped 38.5 million smartphones, compared to Apple's 41 million, ahead of the anticipated fourth quarter release of the 10th generation iPhone, IDC said in a statement.
Huawei, whose Mate and P lines match iPhone features but are sold at lower prices, had 11.3-percent market share compared to Apple's 12 percent.
Samsung kept the top spot by delivering some 79.8 million handsets for a 23.3-percent market share.
Samsung and Apple both slightly increased their market share compared with a year earlier, increasing sales 1.4 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively, IDC said.
Chinese manufacturers Oppo and Xiaomi rounded out the top five with market shares of 8.1 and 6.2 percent, respectively.
IDC said that overall sales were lower than a year earlier, the top 5 smartphone vendors showed positive growth while declines were seen for other manufacturers.
"It's no secret that the smartphone market is a very challenging segment for companies to maintain or grow share, especially as already low average selling prices declined by another 4.3 percent in 2016," said IDC analyst Ryan Reith.
"The smaller, more localized vendors will continue to struggle, especially as the leading volume drivers build out their portfolio into new markets and price segments."
Apple managed to boost iPhone sales from the same period a year ago despite intense speculation about the 10th anniversary edition of the popular device.
But Apple has lost ground in the Chinese market, with revenues down 10 percent from a year earlier in its "Greater China" segment. -- with Agence France-Presse
source: news.abs-cbn.com
