Samsung Galaxy S III achieves 30m sales milestone

Manufacturer’s flagship device reaches sales mark in record time, five months after it went on sale

The Samsung Galaxy S III has exceeded 30 million global sales in around the five months it has been on sale, the manufacturer has said.

During a similar selling period (150 days), the Samsung Galaxy S II, which went on sale in May 2011, topped 10 million sales globally On September 6, Samsung said sales of the Galaxy S III had topped 20 million units – exactly 100 days after it was made available.

Last month research firm Juniper Research said smartphone shipments surpassed 157 units in Q3. Samsung made up a third of that number with 56.3 million smartphones, with 18 million Galaxy S III devices sold in the three month period.

Samsung Electronics president and head of IT and mobile communications division JK Shin said: “The Galaxy S III continues to be a runaway favourite with customers around the world. Meeting this sales milestone in five months sets another record for Samsung.”

The Samsung Galaxy S III, which is now available to Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, was made available in an additional four colours in September – black, grey, red and brown. This added to the silver and blue colours available at launch in May.