Technology giant Samsungs flagship entry into the ultra-competitive smartphone market is off to a rousing start, clearing the 10 million mark in units sold just two months after the handset debuted, the president of Samsung’s information technology and mobile communication division Shin Jong-kyun revealed, according to the Yonhap news agency. He did not give an exact sales figure, but the numbers best the rate of success for the smartphone’s predecessor, the Galaxy S II, which took five months to reach the same milestone.
The Samsung Galaxy S III is available to Verizon, T-Mobile and, most recently, to U.S. Cellular customers. The handset features a large 4.8-inch display, is 8.6mm thin, weighs 4.7 ounces, runs the latest version of Googles Android 4.0 operating system, and boasts a quad-core processor that enables a user to do things like shrink a video andtaking advantage of that tremendous screenlet it play up in the corner, while browsing the Web or using other apps.
The Galaxy S III also has the distinction of housing six sensors that help keep it attuned to a user. For example, a feature called Smart Stay uses the front-facing camera to watch a user and, understanding when the display is being read, not let the screen go dark after a certain time. Other features include the S Voice tool, which allows the handset to respond to user’s commands, such as to take a photo, answer a call or send a text message, and a feature called S Beam, which uses near-field communication (NFC) technology to sync data on devices by touching Galaxy S III phones together.
Samsung and Apple are currently locked in a battle for smartphone supremacy, while former industry stalwarts like Nokia and BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIM) struggle in the face of new competition and sophisticated smartphones running the Google Android operating system. During the second quarter of 2011, Samsungs mobile phone business posted 10 percent growth from a year earlier, according to a recent report from IT analytics firm IDC. By the first quarter of 2012, its year-over-year growth was at 267 percent, catapulting it past Apple and 14-year market leader Nokia. During the quarter, it sold 42.2 million units, in comparison with Apples 35.1 million iPhones and Nokias 11.9 million devices.
As Samsung and Apple struggle for domination of the lucrative smartphone market, anticipation is building for the release of the latest version of Apples iPhone, generally referred to as the iPhone 5. With a larger screen, NFC technology and 4G Long-Term Evolution (LTE) network capability, the latest iteration of the iPhone is expected to shake up the industry yet again when it hits the market sometime in the fourth quarter of this year.