Samsung Electronics has sold more than 3 million Galaxy Note 2 smartphones in a little over a month after its launch, as the company vies to keep its lead over rivals during the crucial holiday quarter. The South Korean firm, which was the world's largest maker of smartphones in the July-September quarter, said it took 37 days for the oversize smartphone to reach the sales figure.

The Note was one of the few 5-inch smartphone in the market when the first model was unveiled last year, making some people believe it would become a "tweener" - neither a tablet nor a smartphone. The Note series is one of the two key mobile devices from Samsung on the high-end smartphone segment, along with flagship Galaxy S3 smartphone, helping Samsung rake in profit for the business division that is responsible for more than 70 per cent of the company's quarterly sales.

The latest iteration of the Note features a screen measuring 5.5 inches diagonally and a digital pen for note-taking. Research firm IDC said Samsung topped the global smartphone market in the July-September third quarter with 56.3 million sales, more than double Apple's 26.9 million iPhone sales.