SEOUL -- Samsung Electronics became the world 's No 1 handset seller across all continents in the third quarter, winning the title for the first time in the company's history, a US-based market researcher said Wednesday.

Brian Berkeley, senior vice?president of Samsung Electronics,?displays a prototype smartphone with a flexible Youm display during the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Wednesday, Jan 9, 2013. [Photo / icpress.cn]

Samsung ranked first in terms of global handset sales in the third quarter in all six continents, including North America, Western Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and Eastern Europe as well as Middle East and Africa, where Samsung beat Nokia for the first time, according to Strategic Analytics.

Samsung sold a total of 120.1 million mobile phones across the globe in the third quarter, taking up the market share of 28.6 percent.

The company sold 15.8 million mobile phones in the Middle East and African region during the quarter, higher than Nokia's 14.7 million sales. Samsung's market share in the region was 36.4 percent, jumping from 24.4 percent last year.

In Western Europe, difference of market share between Samsung and Nokia widened to 27.7 percentage points in the third quarter, with the gaps in Latin America and Eastern Europe gaining to 13.4 percentage points and 14.4 percentage points respectively.

In the North American region, Samsung's market share declined 3. 4 percentage points in the third quarter due to the launch of Apple's new models, but the South Korean company maintained the No. 1 position in the region with a market share 9 percentage points higher than Apple's.