Samsung Galaxy S3 was the world's best-selling smartphone in Q3 2012

Well, what do you know, there’s a new mighty king ruling over the magic realm of smartphones, and it’s not just in total sales across all models, but also when talking about the sole best-selling device.

Samsung’s Galaxy S3 has managed to overtake Apple’s iPhone 4S in global shipments and market share in Q3 2012. 18 million S3 units have been shipped between July and September across the world, while the 4S has only managed to come in at 16.2 mil.

As for the global share, Samsung’s flagship device has covered more than 10% (10.7, to be more exact), meaning that one in every 10 smartphones shipped has been an S3. And that includes budget-friendly entry-level devices, which we know still rule China and India, the biggest markets right now. Dayum, that’s impressive!

We don’t want to be unfair though and accused of being subjective, so we have to admit that the iPhone 4S’s 9.7% market share is also pretty nice, considering the gadget’s earlier release date compared with the S3, but also its very strong holdout across the year.

The 4-incher that saw the light of day back in October 2011 had a 12.7% share in Q2 2012, shipping in 19.4 million units, so the phone’s numbers have gone down, but not massively.

Meanwhile, the Galaxy S3 only punched in at 5.4 million units shipped and a 3.5% share between April and June 2012, but you have to keep in mind that the phone only saw the light of day in late May in Europe and the Middle East, while the US got it a few days before the fiscal quarter ended.

Strategy Analytics, the market research and consulting firm that conducted this latest report, has Apple’s iPhone 5 coming in on third in Q3, with 6 million units shipped and a total market share of 3.6%.

Those are again impressive numbers, seeing as the release date for Apple’s “biggest thing to happen to iPhone since iPhone” was September 21 in parts of the world, but they do challenge a bit some Cupertino claims. According to a press release dated September 24, iPhone 5 sales topped five million “just three days after its launch”, so one has to think – were those numbers bloated?

Anyhoo, while we expect Samsung to again yield S3’s crown to Apple in 2012’s last fiscal quarter, we’d rather live in the moment right now, enjoy one of the biggest successes in recent Android history, and give Apple our warmest regards, as well as a friendly “in your face!”. Who’s with me?