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Samsung
Samsung’s Galaxy S II smartphone has racked up record sales even before it’s hit the hot U.S. market.
The Korean mobile-phone maker said yesterday that it sold more than 5 million units of the Galaxy S II in the 85 days following its debut. Announcing the sales on its Samsung Tomorrow page (Google Translate English version), Samsung said that the phone has captured the top market share among more than 10 countries in Europe.
In comparison, the original Galaxy S took 125 days to reach the same 5-million-unit sales mark.
The GS II launched in its home base of South Korea on April 29 before reaching Japan and several European countries in May. The popular phone claimed more than 3 million in unit sales just one month after its release, according to Samsung, with 2 million selling in some of the larger markets.
Reaching Chinese customers earlier this week, the GS II is slated to make its U.S. debut in August where it will be sold by three of the major carriers, each of which will give it a new name. The phone will be available through Sprint as the Samsung Within, through Verizon Wireless as the Samsung Function, and through AT&T as the Samsung Attain.
“Since being launched into the retail market in late April, the Galaxy S II has seen tremendous growth,” J.K. Shin, president and head of Samsung’s Mobile Communications Business, said in a statement. “This reflects the strong support from carrier partners globally, who in choosing the Galaxy S II as their flagship device have reaffirmed the device’s status as a premium, market-defining smartphone.”
Aiming to launch the GS2 in 120 countries through 140 mobile carriers, Samsung is looking to sell 10 million units by the end of the year, according to the Yonhap News Agency.
The phone has impressed consumers and reviewers alike with its aggressive array of features, including a dual-core 1.2GHz processor, a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED Plus display, an 8-megapixel camera in back, and a 2-megapixel camera in front. Currently running Android 2.3 Gingerbread, the GS2 also sports Samsung’s customized TouchWiz 4.0 interface.
Samsung has been on a roll lately climbing up the charts among the world’s leading smartphone vendors. A June report from Nomura Securities predicted that Samsung would overtake longtime market king Nokia by the second quarter.
Helped by heavy demand for the GS II, Samsung sold 18 million to 21 million smartphones in the second quarter, according to Strategy Analytics analyst Neil Mawston. At just 18 million, Samsung did outsell Nokia; assuming the high end, then Samsung also outshined Apple as the quarter’s top smartphone vendor.
