South Korean handset maker LG Electronics Inc. captured the No. 3 spot in the North American smartphone market in 2012 on strong sales of its new premium brands, data showed Friday. In terms of shipments, LG accounted for 7.1 percent of the smartphone market last year, trailing its bigger rivals Apple Inc. with 37.6 percent and Samsung Electronics with 26.6 percent, according to the data by market researcher Strategy Analytics.