Samsung Electronics has considerably narrowed its gap with U.S. rival Apple in global smartphone sales in the third quarter.
 
According to data compiled by market researcher Strategy Analytics, Apple accounted for 32 percent of sales in the global smartphone market during the July-to-September period compared with Samsung's share of just over 23 percent. 
 
In terms of profits, Apple commanded a nearly 70 percent share while Samsung accounted for almost 22 percent. 
 
The gap between the two is still very wide but the difference has been gradually narrowing. 
 
The gap in sales has fallen from 15-point-five percentage points in the same quarter of 2015 to eight-point-nine percentage points this year. The gap in profits also dropped from nearly 67 percentage points to around 48 percentage points during the same period.