We may still be weeks away from the launch of Apple's iPhone 5 but rival Samsung already has what it hopes will be the answer to the new iPhone. If it's one competitor that has hurt Steve Jobs it's Samsung, Apple has accused Samsung of copying the iPhone and iPad designs too closely. And whether the courts find Samsung guilty or not customers seem to like what they are selling. According to IDC Samsing Q2 Smartphone sales were up 381% putting it second place behind who else but Apple. Here are the Smartphone sales stats for Apple and Samsung:


So to keep this momentum going Samsung is releasing the Galaxy S2 in the U.S. in a couple of weeks. These are likely to do well here, they have already launched in Europe and Asia and reportedly shopped 5 million units in less than 3 months. So how are these different from the iPhone? Google's Android platform has a lot more voice control features and the S2's screen is bigger than the iPhone's screen. It's going to set up an interesting battle in the Smartphone market, the U.S, and in the coming holiday season.

So is the Galaxy S2 a challenge for Apple? maybe not as much as a challenge as Apple's own logistics. Apple will have to roll out the new iPhone line twice as fast as usual during the biggest selling quarter and remember they've had trouble keeping up with iPhone demand all year anyway. Apple also has competition in the Tablet market as Sony is looking to price it's Android based Tablet S at the same price of the iPad, which is $499. Crazy you say? well Sony may not have any choice, Apple's cost are the lowest in the biz and it's distribution is the best, so for anyone to make any money they have to price close to the iPad.