Developers who programmed applications for Google's (NASDAQ:
GOOG
) mobile operating system believe that reports of the rumored
Galaxy S III Mini
are accurate. "We spoke to 3 Android developers, and they think
that the above rumor that Samsung is going to Launch Galaxy S3
mini is accurate," Trip Chowdhry, Managing Director of Equity
Research at Global Equities Research, wrote in an e-mail update
Thursday morning. "'Looking at the source code of Jelly Bean, a
small screen size support looks very plausible, was the converged
view we got."
Chowdhry added that developers expect to see additional
Android devices during the first week of November.
Rumors of the Galaxy S III Mini, which started spreading
earlier this week, suggested that Samsung wants to build a device
with a four-inch screen to compete directly with the iPhone
5.
Despite the overwhelming amount of hype surrounding Apple's
(NASDAQ:
AAPL
) latest smartphone, Samsung has continued to sell an impressive
number of devices. In the days that followed the verdict in Apple
and Samsung's
domestic patent dispute
, Chowdhry conducted a survey of retailers and discovered that
the Galaxy S III was
flying off store shelves
. According to
Localytics
, an app analytics firm, sales increased 16 percent that
week.
Samsung has strategically built its company as the premium
alternative to Apple, Sony (NYSE:
SNE
) and other device manufacturers. In the week leading up to the
iPhone 5's unveiling, the Galaxy S III did not experience any
increase in sales. But during the same week that the iPhone 5 was
unveiled, sales of the Galaxy S III increased 15 percent.
Sales have continued to rise, possibly a sign that consumers
were waiting to see what Apple had planned before purchasing the
Galaxy S III.
Regardless, millions of consumers have purchased the iPhone 5
as well, making it the fastest-selling smartphone of all time.
The device sold
more than five million units
during its first weekend, which was lower than analysts
anticipated but higher than the initial sales of the iPhone
4S.
On Friday, Apple released the iPhone 5 in
22 additional markets
, but the company has not yet announced additional sales
numbers.
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