Samsung projected to sell over 60 million smartphones in Q4 2012

Samsung currently sits at pole position as the largest smartphone manufacturer in the world. The Samsung Galaxy S III and Galaxy Note II are two of the brand's hottest selling devices this year, and this has made Samsung's smartphone sales look good. A recent report by Yonhap, a financial analysis company, estimates that Samsung will have a good fourth quarter, and will sell over 60 million smartphones.

The Note II will help boost Samsung's sales

UBS, an investment bank and financial analysis company, estimated that Samsung Electronics will sell 61.5 million units of smartphones in the October-December period, up 5 percent from an estimated 58 million in the previous quarter. The number could reach as high as 63 million depending on the sell-through, or the volume that is actually sold to consumers.

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The report stated that a major contributor to these numbers will be the Galaxy Note II that was released in September. Nicolas Gaudois, an analyst at UBS said, “The Galaxy Note 2 has shipped 3 million units in its first five weeks of sales, with sell-through strong in Asia and Europe, and the U.S. gathering pace post-launch. We hence forecast 7 million Galaxy Note 2, compared to our initial expectation of 5 million for the fourth quarter.”

The report goes on to add that the high sales of the Samsung Galaxy Note II may affect the impact of the latest Apple flagship smartphone, the iPhone 5. The Swiss bank notes that the flagship Galaxy S III, which hit the market in late May, continues to show strong performance, with more than 5.5 million units sold in October alone. "We see a limited ramp-down, if any at all, for the Galaxy S III, and we feel comfortable with our 15 million estimate for the fourth quarter of 2012," Gaudois said.

Samsung and Apple, which are rivals as well as partners in the mobile business, have been involved in a dogged war over design and technology patent suits in four continents since April 2011.

Samsung Electronics overtook Apple as the world's top smartphone maker in the first quarter of this year, when its sales reached 42.2 million units, compared with the latter's 35.1 million units. Earlier this month, Samsung announced that over three million units of the Galaxy Note II phablet have been sold since it was first launched in September.

Samsung has announced that the 5.5-inch smartphone is selling at three times the pace of the original Galaxy Note. Over 10 million units of the handset have been sold across the globe since the Note was launched. To know more about the Galaxy Note II, read our review on this stylus-enabled smartphone.