Galaxy S III will reach 30 million in 2012

There are still millions more Samsung Galaxy S III units to be sold.Samsung believes that by the end of the year, the total number of phones sold will reach 30 million worldwide.

Since its launch in May, the very successful product has sold more than 20 million units.

In fact, in August, the Galaxy S III sold more units than the iPhone 4S, making it the first to do so.

Samsung owns an astounding 30.6% of the mobile phone market as of last month. It toppled Nokia as the leader in the industry for the first time in 15 years.

And with more than 50% of American consumers now owning smartphones, and with Android as the most popular smartphone platform by far, owning that industry is a huge deal.

The Galaxy S III saw an almost unparalleled global launch on May 29, with 100 carrier partners already secured at dozens of countries throughout the planet.

That is exactly the reason that this phone has been such a success. The conventional strategy for cell phones has always been to secure a deal with one carrier in regions like the US, because when you do that, the carrier will give you favorable terms.

But that seems to be less of a worry now when customers care about the phone more than the carrier these days. It will be interesting to see if this carrier-agnostic phenomenon continues.