back to article Samsung shifts 10 millionth Galaxy SII

Samsung has reportedly sold 10 million Galaxy SIIs, despite only recently launching in the USA, tying a lot of customers into contracts that will take them well beyond the next iPhone launch. The figure comes from UK operator Three, which reckons the Android-based flagship phone has sold 3.6 million units in Korea, 3.4 million …

COMMENTS

This topic is closed for new posts.
  1. Richard Taylor 1

    3G is not Three

    Bit obvious, but www.3g.co.uk isn't www.three.co.uk.

  2. Charlie Clark Silver badge

    Impressive numbers

    Is it just possible that the phone is being sold on its own merits rather than in comparison to a putative Iphone 5? As for tying someone in - there are plenty of people happy to tie themselves into a contract and then try and work their way out of it and into the next one as soon as the next shiny, shiny appears.

    Samsung's progress over the last few years is remarkable. Like HTC , whose progress has arguably been even more impressive, it is becoming a high-value phone brand, especially to the technologically informed who understand the differences between AMOLED and TFT. Still got some way to go before being iconic but certainly on the way to being understood as a technological leader. More Sony than Apple but impressive just the same.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I bought a Galaxy S2 last week, and I have to say, it was Apple's lawsuit that made me go into a shop while thinking of the S2.

    rounded corners? icons as application/feature launchers? the front of the phone is made of a screen? how many years ago where these things out there _before_ the iPhone came around?

    MS did some thinking and decided to do without the icons, instead they will use widgets (or whatever you call them). Apple did _not_ do any type of thinking, they just used the same shortcut idea used on the PC for years! Heck for years phones had icons in grid view when you entered the setting/options screen!

    the packaging on the other hand, yes, Samsung did copy the Apple's packaging. But hey, almost every PC/notebook I unpacked had a similar package to the other one!

  4. Rodrigo Valenzuela

    "Filling punters' pockets before Apple can"??

    May be this should be written as: "Emptying punters' pockets before Apple can"

    R

    1. semprance
      Devil

      @Rodrigo

      Why where do you keep your phone? Or are you one of those wallies that straps it to their belt?

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: @Rodrigo

        I believe that the comment is referring to "money", the phones are expensive after all!

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          With all the talk of phone units, and none of $, (and still no correction) I rightly disagree.

      2. Gil Grissum
        Devil

        I strap mine to my utility belt, along with everything else I need to fight crime.

    2. darklord
      FAIL

      clearly Fanbois

      As the S2 is on most tarriffs as free phone where as the crapple is contract plus handset charge i dont see the S2 as emptying that many pockets as quick as apple. Also its better phone go figure.

      Try both. Then youll see and take the blinkers off.

  5. Andres
    Thumb Up

    Top top phone

    It is simply a fabulous phone. I bought one on Friday for its own merits, not for make, reputation or OS. It looks stunning in white and it is easy to see why it is selling so well.

    Apple may not be overly worried about this individual phone but the quality of recent Androids and market share trends must have them looking pensively into their skinny lattes.

  6. Arctic fox
    Megaphone

    Only the most diehard Apple supporter can now be in any doubt.........

    .............as to why Apple started their current legal war against Samsung. This is the first time that another phone is perceived by Cupertino as a serious threat to the successful launch of a new iPhone. The original Galaxy S was a warning shot and Apple realised that its follow-up would likely give them a real challenge.

    1. A. Nervosa
      Stop

      Serious?

      Amazingly, I've actually seen one of these phones in action, presented to me be someone who bought it a) cos it was cheap and b) openly admitted to the fact that it was crap compared to an iphone.

      I examined it as well, and he was absolutely right. Yup, cheap, affordable alternatives are always good but please, don't even try to convince yourself that this is anything than another super-specced also-ran with no hope in hell of denting the iphone's dominance in anything other than mass-market sales.

      There's a reason Ferraris make Ferraris and Ford make Fords. Like it or loathe it, please just shut the f*ck up and let people choose what they want to pay for without making endless competetive comparisons. Sometimes there are no comparisons to be made.

      Let the downvotes begin!

      1. Arctic fox
        Thumb Down

        As to being serious I suggest you read your own post again.

        The Galaxy S II 16 Gb (depending on where you buy it) is about £50 or 10% cheap*er* than the 16 Gb iPhone4 - that makes it *competitively* priced, not cheap. I have also had hands-on time with one very recently and I can only describe your use of the word "crap" as fanboi trolling.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        FAIL

        "There's a reason Ferraris make Ferraris..."

        Ferraris are just big Fiats.

      3. Alex Walsh
        FAIL

        "There's a reason Ferraris make Ferraris and Ford make Fords."

        That'll be the same Ford that made the original GT40 to crush Ferrari's dominance at the Le Mans 24 hour race? The car that won it 4 times on the trot, ending a series of 6 back to back wins for Ferrari? Good metaphor :)

    2. Mark 65

      A great phone. No lock-in of apps if someone brings out a better model or you get the arse with this one. Google or someone just needs to sort out the marketplace/app store/music store/whatever you call it. Please don't tell me you can "use any app store" as, like most of the public, I don't care. One stop shop thanks - it's the only reason I can see for the iphone still selling so well in the face of devices like the SII.

  7. LeBeourfCurtaine
    Paris Hilton

    Lies, damn lies and statistics

    "Ten million is an impressive number, though some way off the iPhone's 75 million or so."

    Is this a case of comparing apples with oranges, or rather holding up an entire product history of one product line against a single model? It's unclear whether that's 75 million iPhone 4's or every iPhone since the very first Jobsian conception?

    Paris, because this house may be made of wax...

    1. diodesign Silver badge
      Alert

      75 million covers all iPhone models - which is why 10m sales for one rival product is a threat but some way off.

    2. Arctic fox
      Headmaster

      @LeBourfCurtaine You certainly have a point.

      According to Apple themselves they had sold a total of all iPhones of 108 million as of March 2011.

      http://ipod.about.com/od/glossary/f/how-many-iphones-sold.htm

      However, if this *is* correct and the figures for the Galaxy S II are *also* correct we can readily see why Cupertino have been experiencing a brown-trouser moment because it implies that Samsung have managed within a few months to generate sales equivalent to 9.25% of *all* the iPhones ever sold as of March this year with only *one* model. As I said earlier on this thread I do not believe we need to search further for the explanation for Cupertino's "legal" war.

  8. Steve Lupton

    Shipped, not sold?

    So how many of the 10 million units are actually in the hands of users?

    1. Reading Your E-mail
      Joke

      Got mine!!

      So that's one

      1. Sorry that handle is already taken. Silver badge
        Windows

        A few more

        I now know more people with SGS2s than Iphones combined. I'd be part of that statistic myself but I'm trying for ten years of faithful service from my "ancient" Nokia. Also, $600 for a handset?

        I need a luddite icon, this will have to do.

  9. Stuart Tomlinson
    Thumb Up

    epic phone

    had mime for a couple of months and apart from the battery life I have nothing to moan about- love it. How I will feel at the end of my 2 year contract may be another thing, but knocks the spots off the current Jesus phone and Apple would have to pull something special next month to even get close

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Got to admit

      I love mine too. The full HD video recording is just excellent - great for those off beat moments with the kids. Oh and it has an SD Card slot too :P

    2. Rodrigo Valenzuela
      Coat

      I'm very glad...

      that you love your mime

      R

  10. Peter Gordon
    Thumb Up

    If it ran webOS...

    i'd be all over it ;-)

    Gorgeous screen on those things, though.

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Couldn't compete on their own merits

    They became a serious threat by copying apple...

    1. James Hughes 1

      In the same way that Apple copied Samsung?

      I think you'll find, from now onwards, it's Apple who won't be able to compete, and will have to start copying (or taking spurious legal action....)

  12. Craig Mulvaney
    WTF?

    Screen res

    800*480 on a 4.3" screen? Really?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Meh, these high DPI screens are clearer and crisper but they're not a requirement - the DPI on our desktop/laptop monitors is rubbish in comparison, but you don't see people complaining there despite generally using them for much longer periods of time.

      The pixel size between a 3.7" and a 4.3" screen with the same resolution is going to be barely (if at all) noticeable to the naked eye.

  13. cloudgazer
    Holmes

    It may be a great phone, it may be selling really well, but it's not making a dent in the iPhone sales numbers.

    In the launch quarter for the SGS-2, when it hit 5million units sold, the iPhone sold over 20million. In fact iPhone sales increased over 140% YoY that quarter, the highest Apple had seen since 2009.

    So the idea that the SGS-2 is somehow eating Apple's lunch is kinda a stretch.

    1. Craigness

      Apples, oranges

      What were Apple's sales figures in the markets where Samsung was selling? That would give you an idea of how they compare?

      1. cloudgazer

        Apple don't break out sales by product and region. But given that the market in the US is quite mature their growth is unlikely to have been 140% YoY there, implying it's higher still in the markets in which it competes with the SGS-2, which was pretty much everywhere else.

        There are limits to how fast any firm can ramp up supply and build carrier relationships, and Apple has been running up against them - maybe in a few more quarters it will be saturated and we'll see the top Android handsets impact their unit sales, but it hasn't happened yet.

    2. Gil Grissum
      Devil

      IF the iPhone comes to Sprint, as it is rumored to come, we'll see how many of those GS2 owners within their 30 day swap rights, will swap out for an iPhone 5.

  14. Rick Eastwood

    Got mine too. Easily the best phone I've ever had.

    I know others do the same but the fact it's an all-in-one does everything in one handset device makes it a no brainer.

    It has that "Oh, what's that ?" appeal that very few other phones have.

    Yes the battery life is pants but they all are aren't they ?

    Defo won't be giving this little (not so) beauty up any time soon !!!

  15. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    Still can't buy it with NFC, though

    I need a new phone.

    I would like it to be a good phone.

    I do not want to be told what I am allowed to do with my hardware.

    I would very much like NFC (the ability to read RFID tags will be invaluable in my work).

    There exists no phone which meets these criteria!

    WHEN, Samsung, will you take my money off me?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      You should probably wait for the new Nexus, it will be Samsung hardware, pure Google OS (so it will be nice and open, and well supported in the custom rom scene).

  16. ScissorHands
    FAIL

    Burning platforms, and all

    Someone should send this article with a complimentary whack across the head to Nokia's headquarters for not shipping the N9 in time. They're going to TRY to sell the N9 after the iPhone5 sing-and-dance. Good luck there, lads!

    1. cloudgazer

      I don't think they're willing to sell the N9 at all, though they may let a few units dribble out after they launch their first WP7 phone. Imagine if they released the N9 and it sold well or better than Sea Ray? Elop would have some serious explaining to do. So they must ensure it fails, in order to demonstrate that there was no choice but to embrace the Beast of Redmond.

    2. ScissorHands
      Alert

      On the other hand

      Nokia's portuguese webstore started accepting black 16Gb N9 preorders today - no delivery date provided.

  17. jarjarbinks

    Wait for the next Google Nexus phone...

    The up coming Samsung Nexus Prime or whatever it will be is the one I am waiting for. Rumors have it at a 4.65" SuperAmoLED+ screen with 1280x800 resolution (720p natively), 1080P recording, dual 1.5Ghz cpus, NFC chip and Android 4.0 (or ICS.. not sure what version it will become) all in one package. The only downside is the 5MP camera, but supposedly it will have a much better image sensor to shoot really good pics and 1080p video. I'll take the 5MP over 8MP any day if it has better pictures.

  18. John B 1

    A handheld computer with a phone attached

    I love mine, and the more I play with it, the more I love it. I'm an HGV driver, and it fits my job like a glove.

    Inspecting a vehicle at night? Flashlight.

    Want to check traffic in real time? Maps or road watch.

    Need to see exactly what the entrance to that next delivery looks like? Street View.

    Short of reading material on a long wait? Kindle.

    Tricorder will also find buried pipes and cable in walls, which means NFC could be in the next update but 2.

    NO iTUNES!

    OK, so the above things are Android rather than the S2 in particular, but the implementation is "just fucking works".

    And of course it means annoying Jobs and his cultists.

  19. David 66

    Just jumped from gorgeous iPhone to Samsung Galaxy S2

    And no regrets. The S2 is amazing.

    16GB to the HTC Sensation's 8GB

    Removable battery

    Huge screen, but very thin and significantly (i.e. very noticeably) lighter than other, smaller androids and any iPhone

    Side-by-side with an iPhone 4, the iPhone screen is pitiable. Owner of said iPhone is now quite de-smugged.

    As an aside, it's a joy to have the freedom to mess around writing apps for my phone (even ON my phone in a choice of languages!!!11) without being tied to a type of host computer.

    I overheard in Phones4u that 40% of all their sales are S2s at the moment.

    The only way I prefer the iPhone is the keyboard, and that may just be because I'm accustomed to it. When it was new, I was mis-typing everything.

    And here's something else. On the basis of this phone, I'd whole-heartedly recommend a Samsung Galaxy Tab over an iPad. And that's a significant internal shift on my part, I can tell you!

    Well done Samsung.

  20. Morat
    Go

    I have one and I gotta say... its EPIC

    Great phone. Great OS. I really can't see Apple coming back from this one - although that has been said before :)

    Then again, why does it matter? Competition between gadget makers is GOOD news. Apple DID move the game on, but no one gets to stay in the lead forever. I for one, welcome our Android overlords.

This topic is closed for new posts.

Other stories you might like