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Samsung hits 300-million-phone goal with a month to spare

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In July, Samsung projected it would have a record-breaking year, selling 300 million handsets, driven by the popularity of its Galaxy smartphone line. It turns out Samsung hit that target in the first 11 months of the year and still has one traditionally very lucrative month to build on that success.

On Sunday, Shin Jong-Kyun, Samsung president and head of its mobile communications business, said the manufacturer was “incredibly proud” of hitting its 300 million-unit goal early, claiming the increasing popularity of the Galaxy S series is making it one of the recognized smartphone brands in the world, Xinhua reported. The Galaxy may not yet have the icon status of the iPhone, but Samsung overtook Apple(s aapl) in smartphone sales in the third quarter, and is well on target to leapfrog former smartphone king Nokia (s nok) by the end of the year.

While the Galaxy doesn’t yet have the cachet of the iPhone, it definitely has more flexibility. Samsung has shown willingness to work with almost every operator to design a version of the Galaxy S that works on their radio technology and bands, while Apple, in an effort to limit the number of iPhone models, has kept to the most popular bands and radio configurations. But Samsung appears to be targeting Apple’s traditional customer base, launching a new U.S. advertising campaign that mocks the Apple fanboy. Whether Samsung can attract Apple’s traditional customers by making fun of them, though, is an open question.

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