LG Electronics has become the world's No.3 smartphone maker behind Apple and Samsung Electronics for the first time, as solid sales of high-end models helped it win customers. LG's smartphone market share rised to 3.2 percent in the fourth quarter by sales, propelling it to the third spot for the first time, while rival HTC slid to fourth, data from research firm Strategy Analytics showed.

Samsung and Apple took a combined 71.4 percent of the market and the rest is split among firms such as LG, HTC, Sony Corp and BlackBerry, the data showed.

LG has been investing in the development of high-end models that boast powerful hardware and software features and a fast 4G connection.

The company will soon start offering software upgrades for its flagship Optimus G Pro model that will add new features including motion detecting technology, which stops and starts videos depending on whether someone is looking at the screen and snapping pictures. Rival Samsung has been also touted similar features as major selling points of its Galaxy S4.

LG claims that its 5-inch Optimus Pro is its fastest-selling smartphone with sales hitting 500,000 in the first 40 days of the launch.