Report: Samsung Galaxy S III Phone Tops iPhone in Sales

The iPhone has fallen from its throne — at least for now.

Android has long been the market leader on the operating system side, but now an individual Android phone, Samsung’s Galaxy S III, has outsold an iPhone in a single quarter.

The report, from research firm Strategy Analytics, shows that the Galaxy S III sold 18 million units in the third quarter, giving it 10.7 percent of the market. Apple’s iPhone 4S, on the other hand, sold 16.2 million units — good for a close second place and 9.7 percent of the market, but not good enough to top Samsung, a competitor that it has been battling on the legal front  (opens in a new tab) worldwide.

But don’t expect this number to last. Apple’s sales were likely affected by the long-rumored iPhone 5, which was released just days before the quarter ended. Even so, the iPhone 5 still managed to sell 6 million units, good for third place.

“We expect the new iPhone 5 to out-ship Samsung’s Galaxy S III in the coming fourth quarter of 2012 and Apple should soon reclaim the title of the world’s most popular smartphone model,” Strategy Analytics’ Neil Mawston said in a statement.

Nonetheless, Android is still by far the most popular operating system — counting for 68.1 percent of the worldwide mobile market, according to research firm IDC  (opens in a new tab).

How is your association reaching out to Android and iOS platforms? Are you making room for both kinds of users in your approach? Let us know in the comments.

(Samsung photo)