South Korea's LG Electronics Inc. regained its spot as No. In the U.S. handset market last month for the first time in a year on Brisk sales of its latest smartphones, a research firm said Sunday.

According to Hong Kong-based Counterpoint Research, mobile phones by LG Electronics recorded a share of 13 percent in December in the United States, beating Apple Inc. with 12 percent. The No. 1 player was retained by Samsung Electronics Co. with 33 percent.  Please note, it's "mobile" phones, not just smartphones.

LG Electronics had maintained the runner-up position until the third-quarter of 2011 but fell to third place after Apple's iPhone 4S hit the market.

Market Insiders attributed LG Electronics' sales growth to the popularity of its latest Optimus G handset , with over 1 million units sold across North America.

Source: Yonhap

Samsung Electronics Co Ltd said it will introduce a smartphone having a curved display in October, as the world's top handset maker seeks to create the pace of hardware innovation and keep its supremacy inside a fiercely competitive business.

Curved displays are an early stage in screen evolution which is shifting to bendable or foldable designs, eventually allowing mobile and wearable gadgets to take on new forms that may radically alter the high-end smartphone market.

"We intend to introduce a smartphone with a curved display in Columbia in October," Samsung's mobile business head of strategic marketing D.J. Lee said on Wednesday in an event launching the Galaxy Note 3 smartphone in Seoul.

In January Samsung, that has taken over from Apple Inc as the global smartphone leader, displayed prototype products with a flexible screen and a display that extends from the side of the device.

But technology firms have yet to figure out how to mass produce the parts cheaply and come up with display panels that can be as thin like a sheet and highly heat resistant.

Curved display has already been commercially available in large-screen televisions. Samsung and it is home rival LG Electronics Inc had started selling curved OLED TV sets this year priced at about $9,000.