Samsung Galaxy Sales Spur Apple Court Action

NEW YORK (TheStreet) - Samsung currently has a number of great selling new Android smartphones in its stable. The Galaxy S III is a winner, and apparently, so is its half smartphone/half tablet Galaxy Note II. So much so that Apple (AAPL) has decided to try to stop its success.

Earlier this month, Samsung announced that its Galaxy S III phone has shipped 18 million units in the third quarter. That comes out to 11% of all smartphones shipped worldwide between July and September of this year, enough to push the "GS3" past Apple's (AAPL) total of 16.2 million iPhone 4S devices - just before the release of the iPhone 5.

And, just this morning, Samsung announced that its larger, more expensive, phone, the Galaxy Note II - with the 5.5-inch screen - has surpassed the 5 million sales mark. The Korean tech giant introduced the phone exactly two months ago, worldwide, and one month ago here in the U.S.

As you might expect, these successes have not gone unnoticed in Cupertino, Calif. Apple has decided to strike back by requesting that the courts add the Galaxy S III with Google's (GOOG) Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) operating system, the Galaxy Note II ,and a handful of other recent Samsung Androids to the list of devices in the next round of lawsuits, scheduled for 2014. A magistrate in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California was asked to decide which ones, if any, can be added to the court action.

Despite Apple's landmark jury decision earlier this year, the case is far from over. Appeals, which begin in early 2013, might actually drag on for more than a year. In the meantime, both sides are trying to use every and any point to their advantage.

--Written by Gary Krakow in New York.

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Gary Krakow is TheStreet's senior technology correspondent.