Motorola lost its second spot in the global mobile handset market to Samsung in the third quarter, according to data released on Tuesday, as the US company focused on returning to profit instead of market share.

Motorola’s share of the global mobile phone market fell to 13.1 per cent in the three months to the end of September, compared with 20.7 per cent a year ago and 14.6 per cent in the second quarter of 2007, according to figures from Gartner, the research firm. Meanwhile, Korea’s Samsung edged up to 14.5 per cent from 12.2 per cent last year and 13.4 per cent in the previous quarter.