Samsung S3 'most popular phone of the year'

Samsung’s new Galaxy S3 phone is the fastest-selling pre-order phone of the year, Carphone Warehouse has revealed.

Although the retailer said Samsung would not allow it to release specific numbers at this point, it confirmed that "thousands" of customers have preordered the new flagship Google Android device.

More than 800 Carphone shops will stock the phone at launch, which will go on sale at 7.00pm and May 29 to those who have pre-ordered it. General sales will begin the following day.

Graham Stapleton, Chief Commercial Officer at Carphone Warehouse, claimed, "Pre-order demand for the new Galaxy S3 has surpassed expectations since the handset was first unveiled two weeks ago. The first 24 hours alone saw thousands placing their pre-order at Carphone Warehouse."

The news will come as a further boost to Android's operating system, which already accounts for more than half the world's smartphones. Earlier this week it was reported that 9 million S3s had been pre-ordered by more than 100 carriers.

Korean Samsung is the biggest mobile phone company in the world, ahead of long-time number one Nokia, and also the biggest maker of smartphones ahead of Apple.

Apple's latest iPhone, the 4S, was preordered more than one million times in its first 24 hours of online availability to a global audience, but no further official figures or breakdowns were released.

Stapleton added, "The Galaxy S3 is without a doubt the fastest selling pre-order of 2012 so far. We're gearing up for an exceptionally busy launch day at the end of the month as the handset lands on shelves at our stores across the UK."

The Korea Economic Daily also claims that Samsung’s factory is producing five million S3 devices a month, and is already operating at full capacity.

The Galaxy S3, unveiled at an international launch held at London’s Earls Court arena, includes innovative new features such as eye tracking so that the screen stays on while a user is looking at it.

Samsung has already said that it will "substantially contribute" to its second-quarter earnings. In the UK it will be free with monthly tariffs from £28 per month. The manufacturer is hoping the device will replicate the success of its predecessor, the SII, which has sold a total of 20million units.

The S3 also features a 4.8” display, one of the largest on the market, and the ability to automatically initiate a call to a contact onscreen when the phone is held up to its user’s face. Samsung has also added voice control, similar to Apple’s ‘personal assistant’ Siri, and will offer 50GB of online storage via a partnership with Dropbox.com.

Samsung has also announced that the device will be the official phone of the London Olympics, and said that “a limited edition showcase device enabled with Visa’s mobile payment application, Visa payWave, will be available for Samsung and Visa sponsored athletes and trialists”.

Microsoft's smartphone share is now below 2 per cent globally, while LG and Sony's is also falling.