Samsung to top 300M mobile phones sold in 2011

Samsung Electronics is the unqualified king of mobile, hitting the 300M mark for the first time ever

Last October we reported on Samung unseating Apple as the mobile sales king, though the company's stellar Q3 was somewhat qualified at the time by the fact that Apple had not released a new phone for a while. Well, Sunday's numbers require no such caveat. They're just flat-out impressive, any way you look at them.

Samsung Electronics told Reuters on Sunday that they had shipped 300 million mobile phones to retailers, the highest number ever for the company since joining the mobile phone game in 1998. Sumsung's 2010 mobiles sales were at about 280 million.

Oh yeah, and these numbers are only through November.

Most agree that what pushed Samsung into the elite position it currently holds was their release of the Galaxy II series. The Sumsung Galaxy S II was released in early August 2011, and by the end of September had already demanded the shipment of 10 million units to retailers. The phone debuted in Korea and shipped to the U.S. four weeks later.

"We attained the 300 million mark because we've introduced hit models in succession by banking on upscale designs and cutting-edge technology," a Samsung exec told The Dong-A Ilbo, one of the 3 major South Korean publications.

Speaking of cutting edge technology, 2012 will no doubt see the release of Samsung's much-anticipated and -hyped new model, the Galaxy Nexus. The phone hasn't been given a release date yet, though certain tantalizing hints as to its awesomeness have been dropped by multiple tech news sources, including a 4.65 inch screen and 4G data speed, and, of course, the debut of Google's new Android mobile OS Ice Cream Sandwich

A couple lucky shoppers even got to purchase the new Galaxy Nexus ahead of schedule by mistake, because of some display mix ups at a Best Buy and a Verizon Store, (another hint that the phone could be dropping very soon, with Droid Life reporting that Verizon is shooting for a release date as early as December 15). 

Many reviewers have called the Galaxy Nexus the best mobile phone yet. So look for Samsung to have as big a 2012 as their 2011. Be afraid, Apple, be very afraid.