Samsung Electronics, the world's top smartphone vendor by shipment, unveiled a new flagship model for the Chinese mainland market Tuesday, going head-to-head with Apple Inc in the world's largest marketplace for smartphones.

The second-generation Galaxy Note model adds to Samsung's ammunition in the super display lineup, featuring a 5.5-inch touchscreen and running on Google's latest Android 4.1 operating system, Samsung announced Tuesday.

According to Samsung, the new phone will be available in the mainland over the weekend, with the price tag starting from 5,100 yuan ($813.91) for the 16-gigabyte version.

Shipments of the first-generation Galaxy Note that arrived in the market in late 2011 has hit 10 million units as of July across the world, according to Lee Jin-jung, head of mobile communications division for China at Samsung.

"Sales volume of the new model is expected to triple that of the pervious version during the first three months," Lee said in a press conference in Shanghai Tuesday. But he did not reveal sales figures in the Chinese market.

The iPhone 5, the newest offering in the iPhone lineup from California-based Apple, however, remains beyond reach of the world's most populous market, although news about the opening of the sixth Apple Store in the mainland Saturday has beefed up market sentiment on Apple attaching more importance to the market.

In addition to Galaxy S3, the closest rival to Apple's iPhone lineup released in June, Samsung's new Galaxy Note model is likely to help Samsung hold on to its competitive edge over Apple, which has been facing growing pressure from Samsung in the Chinese market in particular, industry watchers told the Global Times Tuesday.

"Samsung has an enriched product portfolio compared to Apple, and its new flagship models appear to be more luring in terms of design and technology advancement, while the iPhone 5 is likely to indicate Apple's decline of innovation," said Shen Zheyi, research director of mobile devices and consumer services at research firm Gartner Inc.

"Samsung, which has gained increasing popularity among Chinese consumers, has proved to lead the trend of large display smartphones, definitely an edge over Apple," said Wang Yang, director of China research at consultancy IHS iSuppli in Shanghai.

Samsung held a top position in the Chinese smartphone market with 19 percent share during the second quarter of the year, while Apple's market share almost halved to 10 percent from the previous quarter, falling to the third position behind Chinese tech company Lenovo with 11 percent, according to the latest figures from market research firm IDC.

While Samsung and Apple continue their market dominance, domestic handset makers including Lenovo, Huawei and ZTE also show growing clout in China, analysts also noted.

"Chinese handset makers have already seen rising share in the mostly competitive Chinese market, and if they could enhance their research and development power, they may enjoy a brighter future," IHS iSuppli's Wang remarked.