SEOUL: Samsung Electronics shipped a record 88.4 million smartphones in the third quarter to take its global market share above 35 percent, while rival Apple’s slice thinned, research data showed.

Samsung’s smartphone shipments in the July-September period marked a 55 percent surge over the same period last year, the independent research firm Strategy Analytics said.

The South Korean tech company’s market share swelled to 35.2 percent from 32.9 percent in the third quarter of 2012.

Apple posted a 26 percent spike in shipments over the same period to 33.8 million units. But that failed to keep pace with the industry’s overall 45 percent growth and the California company’s market share dipped from 15.6 percent to 13.4 percent.

Strategy Analytics said it expected Apple to make up last ground in the fourth quarter on high demand for its new iPhone 5s model.

Apple reported a third consecutive quarterly decline in earnings, while Samsung last week posted a 26 percent increase in third-quarter net profit, bolstered by demand for smartphones and memory chips.

The largest shipment growth in the third quarter was recorded by China’s Huawei Technologies Co., which shipped 12.7 million units — up 67 percent from a year ago.

“Samsung is really trying to get people excited about their platform,” said independent Silicon Valley analyst Rob Enderle.

“Samsung has been trying to pull a lot of the emphasis away from Google and get developers to be loyal to them and not Google.”

His remarks came as Samsung courted “app” makers at its first developers conference, stepping out of Google’s shadow when it comes to software powering mobile devices.

About 1,300 people attending the event at the Westin St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco, delved into techniques for making applications that work across an array of Samsung devices.

“There are close to half a billion connected devices in the world today, yet a very limited portion are actually connected to each other,” said Samsung media solution center president Won-Pyo Hong.

“Samsung is creating one of the largest connected platforms spanning a broad range of devices that people love and use every day, including smartphones, tablets, TVs and much more.”

During a keynote presentation in a packed ballroom, Samsung executives showed off new software development kits but there was little mention of Android, the Google-made operating system on which the South Korean company’s smartphone empire stands.

Google consistently draws thousands of developers to sold-out annual conferences in San Francisco where software wizards hone skills for building fun, functional or hip “apps” for devices powered by the California Internet giant’s operating systems.

Sessions at the Samsung conference included many devoted to customized Android operating software.

The South Korean consumer electronic titan is also developing its own Tizen operating system and likely wants developers making apps for it before products hit the market, according to Enderle.

“Samsung wants more control of the Android platform and Google doesn’t like that they are so dominant,” the analyst said.

“There is a tug-of-war going on.”

Samsung stressed the breadth of the company’s consumer electronics offerings and the potential for applications that let people connect devices for “multiscreen” experiences.

“Going forward, the application you develop will be reached across all of our devices, not just smartphones, tablets and PCs,” said Samsung Telecommunications America president Gregory Lee.

“There are so many opportunities for convergence.”

Samsung Electronics released new kits for creating consumer or business applications on the company’s smartphones, tablets, and smart television screens.