Samsung Electronics Co. remained the second-largest smartphone vendor in Canada in the third quarter of the year but narrowed its market share gap with Apple Inc., a report showed Wednesday.

The South Korean tech giant took a 33 percent market share in the July-September in Canada, up from 32 percent a year ago, according to industry tracker Counterpoint Research.

Apple kept its top status in Canada, accounting for a 53 percent share in the third quarter of the year, down from 56 percent a year earlier.

Counterpoint Research said smartphone sales in Canada jumped 13 percent year-on-year in the third quarter of the year due to pent-up demand.

In volume terms, Apple saw a 7 percent on-year increase despite a delay in its new iPhone 12 series launch, while Samsung posted 21 percent on-year growth, the market tracker added.

"Apple remained resilient and maintained its lead over other brands," Counterpoint Research said. "Samsung did well on a year-on-year basis driven by demand for the new Note 20 series and Galaxy A51 and A71 devices."

Counterpoint Research said Apple captured six spots in the top 10 best-selling handsets in the third quarter, with the iPhone 11 being the top seller for the fourth consecutive quarter.

Samsung took the remaining four spots in the top 10 list, with the Galaxy S10 series continuing to perform well alongside the Galaxy S20 devices and the Galaxy A51.

Samsung's South Korean compatriot LG Electronics Inc. came in third with a 4 percent market share, up from a 3 percent share a year ago.

"LG registered single digit year-on-year growth with the help of the 5G LG Velvet and other K series models, K61 and K41S, in budget price tiers," it said. (Yonhap)