Samsung Phone Sales Top 300m Thanks To Galaxy

Thanks in part to sales of its popular Galaxy S and Galaxy S II Android smartphones, Samsung has broken its own record by selling 300 million handsets – and counting – across all of its ranges in 2011.

Samsung also said sales of smartphones powered by its own Bada operating system are picking up steam worldwide, thanks in part to its refreshed Bada 2.0 build. The flagship Wave 3 Bada phone is available in Europe and “continues to gain sales traction in all its launch markets”, Samsung said.

Rapid adoption

Samsung began selling the Galaxy S line in 2010 and has now sold more than 20 million of those handsets to date, excluding the typically busy December shopping month.

The phone maker then brought out the much-ballyhooed successor, the 4G LTE (Long Term Evolution)-equipped Galaxy S II, in April. By September, the company sold more than 10 million S II units, its fastest mobile device sold in the company’s history.

“We are incredibly proud of this record-breaking sales milestone and have exceeded the annual target announced early this year, which is testament to the enduring appeal of Samsung phones with consumers around the world,” said JK Shin, president and head of Samsung’s mobile communications business.

AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile all sell Galaxy S II models, which sport anywhere from 1.2GHz to 1.5GHz dual-core processors paired with 4.3-inch to 4.52-inch Super AMOLED Plus displays. These devices compete with Apple’s iPhone 4S smartphone, which itself has helped AT&T to its single strongest smartphone sales in a quarter.

One of the ways Samsung has helped its own cause versus the iPhone 4S has been its “The Next Big Thing Is Already Here” ad and marketing campaign, which touts the 4G LTE speeds and larger screen size of the Galaxy S II handsets compared to the iPhone 4S.

Samsung also took a shot at Apple’s reputation as a maker of devices for “creative” types, a meme that started with Macintosh computers for graphic artists.

Vexing Nexus

Not everything is going Samsung’s way. The company launched its Samsung Galaxy Nexus phone in the UK in November and expected to watch Verizon launch its version of the first Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich smartphone the week of 5 December.

Unfortunately, Verizon and Google are locked in negotiations regarding the inclusion of the Google Wallet mobile payment application on the phone. Verizon is concerned with the app’s security.

Hold-up notwithstanding, Best Buy and Verizon stores accidentally sold some Galaxy Nexus handsets to some lucky consumers.