Samsung Galaxy S3 to sell 10 million by end of July

Samsung reckons it will sell 10 million Samsung Galaxy S3 phones by the end of July, as US phone fans prepare to get their hands on the phone setting fire to tills around the world.

Reuters reports that Samsung boss JK Shin has predicted the big 10 mil by the end of next month after the quad-core 4.8-inch Android behemoth goes on sale in the US. Whether that's 10 million actually sold to customers or just 10 million shipped to shops is unclear, but either way it shows how popular the phone is.

The S3 went on sale here in the UK at the end of May. Even before it hit shops, the S3 had been ordered enough times to make it the hottest phone of 2012. And the S3 finally launches in the US during July, which will no doubt see even more boffo business for the new Android powerhouse.

Samsung has its eyes on the business world with extra-secure SAFE-certified work versions of the phone, and has also used Olympics tickets to sell the S3 -- and Olympic athletes will all get one with NFC to pay for stuff in their special village.

The S3 is carrying on a fine lineage of bestselling S phones. The original Samsung Galaxy S and Samsung Galaxy S2 have sold a whopping 50m units in the past two years or so, making the line the strongest challenger to the market-leading iPhone.

A new iPhone is expected later this year, with an alleged casing for the iPhone 5 surfacing on the web in recent weeks. The next iPhone is expected to feature a widescreen display among other changes, as well as packing the next generation of Apple mobile software, iOS 6.

Speaking of software, Google unveils the next version of Android this very week. Here's hoping that software update, Jelly Bean, makes it onto those 10 million S3s faster than the previous version, Ice Cream Sandwich, made it to the S2: in chaotic scenes that drove phone fans nuts, the ICS update took weeks to limp out to different phone networks before collapsing in a heap onto the SIM-free model.

Are you one of the 10 million? Is the S3 the year's best phone? Tell me your thoughts in the comments or on our Facebook page.