Samsung 'sells 10 mn Galaxy SIII smartphones'

The company said earlier this month it expected a record operating profit of 6.7 trillion won ($5.9 billion) in the second quarter, boosted by strong sales of its flagship Galaxy smartphones.

The Korean firm, which is battling with Apple's iPhone and iPad for supremacy in the lucrative smartphone and tablet market, has seen heavy demand for its new Galaxy S III phone, which was introduced in Europe in May.

"It appears that it (accumulated sales) has exceeded 10 million units," said J.K. Shin, head of the Samsung's mobile communications division, according to Yonhap news agency.

Shin said last month he expected the global sales of the new phone -- available in more than 140 countries -- would surpass 10 million by the end of July, including sales of about a million units at home.

The third version of the firm's Galaxy S series offers face-recognition technology and improved voice-activated controls as well as a more powerful processor.

It also has a 4.8-inch (12.2-centimetre) screen that is 22 percent larger than the previous S2 version, while it can detect eye movements and override the automatic shutdown if the user is looking at the screen.

Samsung shipped 44.5 million smartphones in the first quarter, exceeding the 35.1 million of US arch-rival Apple, according to market researcher Strategy Analytics in April.

Samsung, embroiled in a slew of patent suits with Apple in international courts, is pinning its hopes on the S III to further erode its market share before the expected new version of Apple's iPhone 5 this year.

Earlier this month, Samsung won one of those patent battles, with a British judge ruling that Samsung's Galaxy tablet did not infringe Apple's registered design and that consumers were not likely to confuse it with the iPad tablet.