Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Inc., South Korea's top two tech firms, stood pat on their big shares in public display market in the third quarter of last year, data showed Wednesday, as they shift focus to smaller signage displays that have become the next trend.

Samsung Electronics stood atop with a 27 percent share in the third quarter of 2014, with that of LG Electronics reaching 7 percent as the third-biggest player in the world over the same period, according to the data compiled by market tracker DisplaySearch.

The three other top five sellers were Japanese companies -- NEC Corp., Sharp Corp. and Panasonic Corp. -- whose shares came to 10 percent, 4 percent and 3 percent, respectively.

Public displays refer to large panel displays often seen in subway stations, highways and schools that usually show advertisements or public notices by the government.

The public display market grew 16 percent on-year in the July-September period, driven by upbeat demand for interactive white boards from emerging countries like China and Turkey in pursuit of an all-out reform in education, DisplaySearch noted.

The average size of a public display also reached a record high of 48.9 inches, as a drop in the price of large display panels led to more demand for those over 60 inches.

But as the large panel display market has come to a mature stage, tech companies are ramping up efforts in smaller displays used for digital signage, which can be used as school notice boards and restaurant menus.

Samsung Display Co., the main display supplier of Samsung Electronics, recently rolled out a 22-inch public display panel. Toshiba Corp. of Japan and U.S. Planar Systems Inc. also have set out to join the race for the smaller displays.

The shipments of public displays are expected to surpass 3 million units this year and 4 million units in 2017, DisplaySearch said. (Yonhap)