Samsung, the leading handset provider based in South Korea, recently announced that sales of its Galaxy S series have exceeded 100 million units since the launch of original Galaxy S around two years and seven months ago.

The original Galaxy S sold 10 million units within its first seven months, eventually topping 24 million sales, while the Galaxy S2 topped 10 million within just five months - eventually reaching 40 million units sold. Samsung’s Galaxy S3 sold 20 million units in 100 days and sales have already exceeded 40 million.

Clients of Strategy Analytics Handset Country Share Tracker (HCST) service can access detailed data on global shipments of the leading smartphone models in this report: Global Smartphone Shipments by Family / Model: Q3 2012.

According to Strategy Analytics’ Country Share Tracker (CST) service, the UK handset market declined by 2% year-on-year, slowing down from the previous quarter’s 8% growth as the strength of Samsung was insufficient to compensate for a pre-iPhone launch dip by Apple and continued market weakness, although Sony was a notable exception with a strong UK performance this quarter. Macroeconomic factors also played a part in the dip, with household budgets squeezed by recession and fiscal tightening.. The launch of strong new smartphones from the likes of Nokia, Apple, LG and Motorola could well reverse this declining trend in Q3. More analysis of the UK handset market can be viewed by clients here.

According to Strategy Analytics’ Country Share Tracker (CST) service, the German handset market grew by 3% year-on-year, slowing down from the previous quarter’s 9% growth, as the German economy’s relative strength allowed it to out-perform the rest of Europe once more. Samsung jumped to a record German market share following the launch of the Galaxy S3, while most other vendors saw their shares decline across all operators. The launch of strong new smartphones from the likes of Nokia, Apple, LG and Motorola could well reverse this trend in Q3. More analysis of the German handset market can be viewed by clients here.

While global smartphone shipments grew 43%, year-on-year, in the first quarter of 2012, Strategy Analytics estimates the top 9 families of smartphone models accounted for more than two thirds of the global market in that quarter. Furthermore Samsung's Android-based Galaxy series overtook Apple's iPhone as the world's most popular smartphone sub-brand. In an increasingly brand-conscious smartphone market, Samsung and Apple are currently the clear leaders, and with their deep pockets enabling hard-to-match marketing spend, they represent a considerable challenge to the chasing pack. The full breakdown of the leading global smartphone sub-brands was published on our Global Smartphone Shipments by Family / Model : Q1 2012, available to subscribers of our Handset Country Share Tracker service.

Strategy Analytics’ Germany Handset Vendor Marketshare by Operator: Q1 2012 report reveals German handset shipments increased by 10% annually, up from a -1% decline the previous quarter. Germany remains the strongest European economy and, while there remain concerns about the extent to which the German tax-payer will have to take-on the debt of poorer Eurozone countries, its fundamentals are sound.

Nokia will be disappointed to have experienced a major decline in shipments in one of its strongest markets, especially after such a strong previous quarter, with sales of the Lumia family of smartphones tailing off after a promising start. Meanwhile Samsung and Apple both significantly increased their market shares YoY, confirming that weak performance in the smartphone market is behind Nokia’s German decline.