If you're wondering how Samsung is doing in the ongoing "Apple vs Samsung" battle, some recent market research figures suggest the Korean smartphone manufacturer's 2015 flagship, the Samsung Galaxy S6, isn't doing very well against Apple's competing iPhone 6s.

Analyst Counterpoint Research took a close look at Samsung's smartphone sales and volume numbers for 2015 Q3 (July through September), and found that while Samsung still leads in global handset shipments, it's not due to the company's top smartphone.

In fact, the main thing buoying the company to its less-than-three percent growth in mobile handset shipments over last year is Samsung's "Galaxy" of cheap smartphones.

Specifically, the mid-range Galaxy J -- which you may or may not have ever heard of -- is responsible for much of Samsung's growth.

As Counterpoint Research (via Forbes) put it, "Smartphone gained volume momentum rising to 84 million units though growing slower than the global growth hence losing some market share.

"However, due to introduction of competitive affordable J series of smartphones while S6 series undergoing price correction across many markets helped Samsung see a healthy uptick sequentially."

The Samsung Galaxy Note 5, which could be called company's flagship phablet, also contributed to Samsung's edging Apple out in the global market. "In premium segment, Galaxy Note series will continue to be the savior during the upcoming holiday quarter with positive demand for its new Note 5 to offset some softness in demand for the Galaxy S6 flagship," stated Counterpoint Research's report.

All in all, Samsung still shipped a lot more smartphones globally than Apple in the last quarter, with 84 million units headed to customers during Q3, compared to Apple's 48 million. However, Apple's growth is much stronger, with its global shipments experiencing an uptick of 22.4 percent over the previous year.