Samsung Electronics Co. was the top global smartphone manufacturer in the second quarter of the year, a report showed Tuesday, although its production declined due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Samsung led the industry in terms of smartphone production with 55 million units in the April-June period, accounting for 19.2 percent the total market share, according to market researcher TrendForce.

The South Korean tech titan, however, was the only brand among the top six that suffered production decline in the three month priod, according to TrendForce, adding that the company posted a 16 percent quarter-on-quarter drop.

"Europe, the US, and India are the major markets for Samsung smartphones when looking at sales by region," TrendForce said. "Their outbreaks were very severe during the second quarter of 2020, and this affected Samsung more than the other brands in the top six."

China's Huawei Technologies Co. was the runner-up with an 18.2 percent market share after its smartphone production jumped 13 percent quarter-on-quarter to 52 million units in the second quarter.

US tech titan Apple Inc. took the third spot with a 14.3 percent market share after its iPhone production reached 41 million units in the second quarter, up 8 percent from three months earlier.

Chinese brands Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo came in fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively, in the global smartphone production rankings.

Overall, global smartphone production dropped 16.7 percent on-year to 286 million units in the second quarter of the year, TrendForce said.

For the third quarter of the year, TrendForce said the total smartphone production is expected to reach 335 million units. The figure represents a 10.1 percent on-year decline, but still up 17.2 percent from the current quarter.

"Governments in many countries have started to ease some of the restrictive measures for containing COVID-19 and launched economic stimulus policies to generate consumer demand," it added.

TrendForce said Samsung's production volume is likely to increase in the current quarter and take a 23.5 percent market share, benefiting from the US sanctions against Huawei and growing anti-China sentiment in India.

"Samsung has been building up its inventories as it targets the entry-level and mid-range segments in order to compensate for its poor performances in the previous quarter," it added.

Huawei was projected to take a 14 percent market share in terms of smartphone production in the third quarter, followed by Apple with a 13.3 percent market share, TrendForce said. (Yonhap)