Nov 4, 2010 13:48 GMT  ·  By

Samsung Galaxy S, the Android-based smartphone the handset vendor brought to shelves several months ago, seems to be a powerful rival against Apple's iPhone on the Asian market. Not only did the device show a great performance on the company's homeland, South Korea, but it also managed to outsell the Apple device in another Asian market, Japan.

The handset was made available for purchase on the Japanese market only last week, but it already managed to show impressive sales, the latest reports on it suggest.

It appears that it was already declared the best selling smartphone for the last week of October, at least this is what a recent article on briefmobile reads.

Previously, the Apple iPhone 4 was seen as the best selling smartphone on the market in Japan, as it kept the crown for a full series of week.

The fast emergence of Samsung Galaxy S took Japanese wireless carrier NTT DoCoMo by surprise.

One of the nicest features Galaxy S hits the shelves in Japan with is the Android 2.2 operating system, pre-loaded from the start on it, while being delivered as an update for users in other countries.

As stated above, the Samsung Galaxy S already proved a popular smartphone on the South Korean market, where it was sold in over 1.6 million units since its official launch about three months ago.

Worldwide, Samsung managed to sell over 7 million Galaxy S devices, but the smartphone was not yet launched in all markets around the world.

However, while it managed to dethrone the iPhone in these Asian markets, the Galaxy S still falls behind Apple's iconic device in other countries.

In the US, for example, the iPhone remains the best selling smartphone available, even if phones running under Google's Android platform are becoming increasingly popular.

While the battle at the high-end of the market becomes increasingly fierce, Android handsets will still need some time before they can win users' hearts entirely.