Samsung: 3M Galaxy Note 2 units sold in 30 days

Samsung Electronics said today that it had sold 3 million units of the Galaxy Note 2 after just 30 days, or three times faster than its predecessor.

The figure represents an impressive rate of adoption for Samsung, which has essentially created a new category of oversized mobile phones that many have taken to calling "phablets." The original Galaxy Note was deemed a success, but took 90 days to hit the same 3 million mark.

In addition, Samsung said it has sold more than 30 million Galaxy S III smartphones, another impressive milestone for its flagship device.

The Galaxy Note 2 has been available for 37 days, and the sales are from overseas markets, where the larger smartphones have been successful. But sales are poised to increase further as the device hits the U.S. market. The original Galaxy Note, which Samsung executives insist did well in the U.S., was only sold through AT&T, and then later T-Mobile. But this time around, the Galaxy Note 2 will be sold by all four national wireless carriers, opening up its addressable market considerably.

Samsung faced some skepticism when launching the original note, which launched with a 5.3-inch display and S-Pen stylus. But people have begun to warm up to the device, and the company bet even more on the larger screen concept with a 5.5-inch display in the sequel device.

It's clear that Samsung wants to push this as a second hit device alongside its flagship Galaxy S3 smartphone; the company spent big bucks on a launch event in New York last week -- even after the phone had been announced and shown off multiple times before -- to drum up customer attention.

The Galaxy S III, meanwhile, continues to show momentum after hitting the key 30 million benchmark. A Samsung executive told CNET that four out of its five best weeks of sales in the U.S. came after the iPhone 5 launched.

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