Samsung said Monday that AT&T and T-Mobile collectively shipped one million Galaxy S smartphones during the device's first 45 days in the United States. The world's number-two handset maker also said Sprint Nextel will launch the new Android-powered device on Aug. 31, followed by Verizon Wireless, U.S. Cellular, and Cellular South later this year.

Considering that just under five million Android phones shipped in the U.S. during this year's second quarter, the Galaxy S currently appears to be the hottest Android alternative to Apple's iPhone, which sold 3.2 million units in the three months through June. "Bringing Galaxy S devices to multiple carriers has given Samsung Mobile the opportunity to reach millions of consumers," said Samsung Mobile President Dale Sohn.

Attractive Features

The Galaxy S sports a brilliant four-inch AMOLED display and a one-gigahertz Hummingbird processor that supports 3-D graphics and HD-like multimedia content. What's more, the device's accelerometer and geomagnetic sensors provide a smooth, fluid gaming experience whenever users tilt the device up or down or pan to the left or right.

The Galaxy S user interface supports advanced touchscreen gestures such as long tap and zoom, multi-touch pinch, and vertical and horizontal swiping. The goal is to provide users with easier and quicker access to location-based services, web browsing, digital photos, and other apps, Samsung said.

Samsung has been aggressively promoting the device's multitude of entertainment, messaging and social-networking capabilities through daily updates on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. And given the tough economic times, it also helps that the Galaxy S connects to a wealth of free apps at the Android Market, whereas Apple's Apps Store is dominated by offerings for which users must pay a fee.

In the handset market overall, Samsung sold 65.32 million devices in the year's second quarter for a 20.1 percent market share -- up from 55.43 million handsets and a 19.3 percent share in the year-earlier period. "Samsung is still gunning for Nokia's preeminent spot, but we will have to see if Samsung's recent smartphone launches, such as the Galaxy S, will help it resume its march on Nokia," said ABI Research Vice President Jake Saunders.

Stunning Smartphone Growth

Earlier this year, Samsung became a major smartphone contender by displacing Motorola as the number-five vendor on a global basis. During the second quarter, the handset maker led the market by recording stunning year-over-year growth of 172.7 percent, according to IDC.

Samsung, HTC and other emerging smartphone suppliers were all able to gain share at the expense of the historic top players, noted IDC Senior Research Analyst Kevin Restivo. "This is largely a result of greater consumer interest in smartphones generally, and Android devices in particular," Restivo said.

Samsung and HTC also may be benefiting from the antenna problems plaguing Apple's iPhone 4 -- especially in the United States, where data-congestion problems have long dogged exclusive iPhone provider AT&T. In a recent IDC survey, 66 percent of iPhone owners were delaying their upgrade to the iPhone 4 until a solution for the problem is announced, noted IDC Research Manager Francisco Jeronimo.

"Android devices will benefit the most from the iPhone purchasing delay -- particularly the HTC Desire and the Samsung Galaxy S," which offer "similar user experiences and high-end hardware specifications," Jeronimo said.

However, Gartner Research Vice President Carolina Milanesi believes the overall impact of the iPhone 4's antenna problem will be very small in the quarters to come. "Apple stated that return rates on the iPhone 4 are very limited," Milanesi said.

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