UK retailers recommend Galaxy S3 over iPhone 5

If you walked into a high street phone shop and asked which mobile was right for you, what do you think they'd recommend? The iPhone 5? Value-packed Nexus 4? Well the Samsung Galaxy S3 is the phone most recommended by British shops, along with the Galaxy Note 2, according to a survey carried out by Informa Telecoms and Media, the Telegraph reports.

The iPhone 5, meanwhile, was only recommended in two out of the eight retailers surveyed, while ZTE, Motorola, LG, Huawei, and BlackBerry weren't endorsed by any.

"The mystery shop showed that the most recommended Samsung handsets were the Galaxy S3 and the Galaxy Note 2, despite having been on the market longer than the latest handsets from Apple, Nokia and HTC," Informa's Julian Jest said in a statement.

"However, most surprising was the way that, despite an in-store advertising campaign and recent product launch, Apple was recommended in only two stores, 3 and Phones 4U, with both recommending the iPhone 5."

Other shops in the survey included John Lewis, Everything Everywhere, O2, Maplin, PC World, and Carphone Warehouse. Points were awarded to manufacturers based on whether they were advertised in-store or in the window, and then the researchers asked shop staff to recommend a device. In terms of promotional bumpf, Apple and Samsung were neck and neck, but staff were more likely to recommend Samsung. Of course, this could be down to better commission on Samsung phones, there's no way to know.

Samsung had a stellar last three months of 2012, with a 76 per cent rise in profits over the same period the previous year. The good times may be over though, as it warned the boom in phones in the west is coming to an end, with the developing world being the next big growth area.

Have you been recommended an S3 over an iPhone? What would you recommend to a friend? Let me know in the comments, or on Facebook.