Samsung Galaxy Note 2 sells 5 million worldwide

The Samsung Galaxy Note 2 has sold more than 5 million units worldwide, selling 2 million in the last month.

At the beginning of this month, the Korean mobile maker announced the device had sold 3 million units. The Note 2 has been on sale for five months, and originally hit UK shelves on October 1. It only made its way stateside a month ago, which might well account for the recent sales spike.

Samsung made the announcement on its Korean website. (Here it is translated into English.)

This doesn't mean 5 million people are using the Galaxy Note 2, though. Rather, Samsung is counting sales to retailers. In other words, more than 5 million devices have shipped to go on sale, with some of them sold, some of them still on the shelves. But still, it shows the demand is there.

Eclipsed by the S3

While 5 million is impressive, it's a fraction of the 30 million sales the Galaxy S3 has notched up. But then the S3 has been on sale longer, and has a smaller screen (4.8-inches to the Note 2's 5.5-inches).

Indeed, many thought the original Note wouldn't sell, being too big to be a phone, and too small to use as a tablet. Instead, it's spearheaded a whole new category of device, known as the 'phablet'. HTC is rumoured to be readying a UK equivalent of its 5-inch J Butterfly (as it's known in Japan) and Droid DNA (as it's called in the USA) to compete with the Note 2.

Via Samsung