Samsung Sells 3 Million Galaxy Note II 'Phablets' In Little More Than A Month

Samsung Electronic's (LON:BC94) bet that smartphone and tablet users alike would want a hybrid experience has paid off. The Korean tech giant announced robust sales figures for its new Galaxy Note II, a smartphone so large that critics took to calling it a “phablet” due to its combination of phone and tablet-like features.

The new device topped 3 million sales in just over a month, according to the Associated Press.

Following its initial release on Sept. 26, Samsung's phablet took 37 days to exceed 3 million. The Galaxy Note II was not made available to the European and U.S. smartphone market until early October.

As a point of comparison, Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL), of Cupertino, Calif., reported sales of 5 million iPhone models on its opening weekend in September.

The 3 million figure is a threefold increase from early sales of the original Galaxy Notes. Last month, market researcher IDC reported Samsung lead the global smartphone market with a 35 percent market share, shipping more than double the amount of units that Apple -- still its closest rival -- managed in Q3.

The screen for the iPhone 5 was still relatively small compared to rival smartphones, but it was still the largest increase in the screen’s size (4 inches from 3.5 inches) in the history of the device. The newly minted iPad mini, meanwhile, brought Apple’s iconic tablet down to size -- both in terms of its screen size and price -- to a level akin to many of the other major tablets on the market.

The steady enlargement of smartphone screen sizes and shrinking of tablets, in addition to Samsung’s Galaxy Note II sales, might prove to be a sign on the sway Samsung can command over the entire market for mobile devices.