Samsung’s Galaxy S3 Now Top Selling Smartphone, Even Over The iPhone

by Jennifer Johnson — Thursday, November 08, 2012, 11:59 AM EDT

Earlier this month, we told you about Samsung's great success with the Galaxy S III, having sold 30 million devices worldwide. Obviously, that's quite the feat by itself. Now, new data from research firm Strategy Analytics indicates the Galaxy SIII has become the world's best-selling smartphone in the last quarter.

The Galaxy SIII overtook Apple's iPhone to become the world's best-selling smartphone. The iPhone has dominated the chat for more than two years. Estimates from Strategy Analytics indicate Samsung sold 18 million Galaxy SIII smartphones in the third quarter while Apple iPhone 4S sales were 16.2 million.

Although Samsung has had great success with the Galaxy SIII, it's likely the smartphone won't remain at the top for long: analyst Neil Mawston expects the new iPhone 5 will knock the Galaxy SIII from the No. 1 spot for the current quarter.

Thanks in good part to the strong sales numbers of the Galaxy SIII, Samsung was able to post a record $7.3 billion operating profit in the July-September quarter.

Tags: Samsung, Mobile, smartphones, Galaxy S III

Jennifer Johnson

Jennifer grew up around technology. From an early age, she was curious about all things related to computers. As a child, Jennifer remembers spending nights with her dad programming in BASIC and taking apart hard drives to see what was inside. In high school, she wrote her senior term paper on her experiences with building custom computers.

Jennifer graduated from the Jeffrey S. Raikes School of Computer Science and Management at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. After college, she began writing full-time for various PC and technology magazines. Later, she transitioned to the Web. In these roles, Jennifer has covered a variety of topics including laptops, desktops, smartphones, cameras, tablets, and various consumer electronics devices. When she's not playing with or writing about the latest gadget, Jennifer loves to spend time with her family, capture memories with her camera, and scrapbook.

Opinions and content posted by HotHardware contributors are their own.

Which New GPU Is For You?

Stay updated with the latest news and updates. Subscribe to our newsletter!

Subscribe Now