Samsung Galaxy S3: 9 million Pre-Orders?

9 million Galaxy S3s: cool. 9 million iPhones: baaaaaad.

According to Reuters, 9 million units of Samsung's Galaxy SIII have been pre-ordered by mobile operators, around the world.

Wasn't it only two months ago we learned Samsung has shipped 20 million Galaxy S2 phones? Now that model's nominal successor, the Galaxy SIII, is halfway there on the basis of pre-orders alone. And since Samsung's been silent about any US release-date, that "100 operators" bit really means, "not America".

Yet.

Samsung's on a tear...

Image: techcrunch

In the first quarter of 2012, the Korean firm shipped 144 million mobile phones of which 86.6 million were classified as smartphones. This gave them a market-leading 20.7% share among all smart phone makers, plus a commanding 40% share among Android licensees. And, as if completing a telephony trifecta, Samsung dethroned perennial champ Nokia as the #1 mobile phone maker, worldwide.

Scheduled first for late May release in Germany, the new model received mostly positive reviews when introduced at a 'Samsung Unpacked' event, earlier this month. Features on the Galaxy SIII include 4.8" Super AMOLED display, plus front- (8Mp) and rear-facing (1.9Mp) cameras. It would be one of only a few phones running Android 4, 'Ice Cream Sandwich' -- the latest version of Google's mobile OS.

Look out, Cupertino.


via: Reuters; techcrunch