Samsung Galaxy S III best-selling smartphone in Q3 2012

The Samsung Galaxy S III launched earlier this year has been breaking sales records, and sales of the handset recently touched the 30 million mark. In what may come as another feather in its hat, an announcement by research firm Strategy Analytics states that the Samsung flagship smartphone has overtaken the iPhone 4S to become the top selling handset of the third quarter of 2012.

Strategy Analytics states that according to new research from its Country Share Tracker (CST) service, Samsung's Galaxy S III shipped 18 million units worldwide, overtaking Apple's iPhone 4S to become the world's best-selling smartphone model for the first time ever in the third quarter of 2012. The Galaxy S III captured an 11 percent share of all smartphones shipped globally in the period. A large touchscreen, extensive distribution, and generous operator subsidies have put the Galaxy S III in the top spot.

Top selling smartphone of Q3 2012

According to Strategy Analytics, Apple shipped an estimated 16.2 million iPhone 4S units worldwide for second place, as consumers temporarily held off purchases in anticipation of the widely expected iPhone 5 at the end of the quarter.

The announcement concludes by stating that the Samsung Galaxy S III has proven popular with consumers and operators across North America, Europe, and Asia. However, the Galaxy S III's position as the world's best-selling smartphone model is likely to be short-lived. The Apple iPhone 5 has got a solid start already with an estimated 6.0 million units shipped globally during Q3 2012. Strategy Analytics states that it expects the new iPhone 5 to out-ship Samsung's Galaxy S III in the fourth quarter of 2012, and the iPhone should soon reclaim the title of the world's most popular smartphone model.

As per a post on the official Twitter page of Samsung in Poland, the brand has notched up sales of 30 million units of the S III. Samsung had first launched the handset in May, and in a few months, reached this impressive number. Samsung has employed an aggressive marketing strategy for its flagship model and it is reaping its benefits. The smartphone was heavily advertised at the London Olympics, and shortly after, Samsung launched it in a variety of colour options, increasing the customers' options from the original Pebble Blue and Marble White colours. In what comes as another major push for this smartphone, Samsung has recently announced the availability of some more colour options such as Spiral Black, Garnet Red, and Embassy Brown.

Here is a quick look at the highlighted features of the Samsung Galaxy S III:

• 4.8-inch HD Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 1280 x 720
• 3G, EDGE/GPRS, Wi-Fi with DLNA support
• GPS with A-GPS and GLONASS,
• USB 2.0, Bluetooth 4.0
• 8MP camera with AF, LED flash, BSI sensor, and 1080p HD video recording
• 1.9 MP front facing camera with a resolution of 720p for video chat
• 16/ 32/ 64GB Internal memory, expandable up to 64GB