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Samsung: We've sold 50M Galaxy S and S II phones

The company is touting 24 million in unit sales for the Galaxy S and 28 million for the Galaxy S II to date.

Lance Whitney Contributing Writer
Lance Whitney is a freelance technology writer and trainer and a former IT professional. He's written for Time, CNET, PCMag, and several other publications. He's the author of two tech books--one on Windows and another on LinkedIn.
Lance Whitney
2 min read
Samsung's Galaxy S II has racked up 28 million in sales since its debut.
Samsung's Galaxy S II has racked up 28 million in sales since its debut. Josh Miller/CNET

More than 50 million Samsung Galaxy S smartphones have been sold since the original phone debuted in 2010, according to the Korean handset maker.

Plugging its achievement in a news release today (English translation), Samsung said that 24 million units of the first Galaxy S phone have hit the sales market since June 2010, followed by 28 million Galaxy S II phones over the past year.

Samsung uses the term "sales." But it's important to note that the company is actually referring to shipments since the numbers point to how many units have been shipped to retail channels. However, the hot demand for the Galaxy S phones means there's likely to be little difference between shipments to retailers and sales to customers.

The news release says that the 50 million in record sales last year was double that of the entire smartphone market. Ironically, the English translation refers to that as a "shame." It's certainly a shame for the rest of the industry, but a high point for Samsung. Collectively, Samsung and Apple have scooped up virtually the entire mobile phone landscape, leaving little but scraps left over for the remaining players.

The company's Galaxy Note has also joined in on the festivities, reaching 7 million in unit sales since its launch last October.

Samsung is probably expecting even hotter sales this year.

The company just released the Galaxy S III phone across parts of Europe and the Middle East, with other regions slated to pick it up early this summer.

Watch this: Samsung Galaxy S II (AT&T)