Samsung Galaxy S II beats iPhone 4 in Korea, still no US release date

Looks like Samsung’s Galaxy S II — the successor to the company’s popular Android smartphones from last year — could be a worldwide hit.

Pre-orders of the Galaxy S II were over 200,000 between Monday of last week and the launch on Friday in South Korea. That’s double compared to iPhone 4’s preorder numbers in that country last year, Electronista reports.

To be fair, the Galaxy S II is available from several carriers and the iPhone 4 was not even available from Korea’s largest carrier SK Telecom when it launched. Still the figures show some serious traction.

And if you look at the specifications list, you’ll probably be impressed. The phone features an 800 by 480 pixel resolution display on a 4.3-inch AMOLED screen. AMOLED screens use organic components that are designed to bring out more vibrant colors with lower power. The Galaxy S II also sports a fast Samsung dual-core processor and a built-in chipset for NFC (near-field communication) that can be used for mobile payments.

Samsung has made quite modest sales estimates. It believes the Galaxy S II will sell around 10 million units this year. That’s in line with the original Galaxy S last year. But the phone seems to be pretty impressive and the Android operating system has become more desirable among consumers. If the company can manufacture enough phones the sales target will be easily achieved.

But there may be only a limited supply available. Samsung has started shipping phones to Europe in very limited quantities. PCWorld reports. And the Euro version doesn’t even have a NFC chip. There are yet no US release dates, although AT&T and Samsung are organizing a press event on May 5. We’ll see if that’s about the Galaxy S II.