The hype surrounding the iPhone 5 and iPad Mini have done nothing to halt the sale of Samsung's Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Note 2 smartphones, suggesting a switch in the market in favor of the Android device manufacturer.

The South Korean firm said in a Twitter post that it sold more than 30 million Galaxy S3 smartphones in the five months of its release, making it one of the fastest selling smartphones in the world.

Similarly, it claims to have sold three million of its Galaxy Note 2 devices in little over a month - a pace three times faster than its predecessor - Galaxy Note. The sales figure makes light of critics' warning that there is no market for its 5.5-inch smartphone/tablet hybrid.

Most alarmingly for Apple, figures from analytics firm Localytic suggest Samsung's sales grew 15% in September, when the iPhone 5 was released.

"The Galaxy S3 continues to be a runaway favorite with customers around the world," JK Shin, head of Samsung's IT and mobile communications division, said in a statement.

There are no official sales figures for the iPhone 5 available, except that Apple claims it sold five million units in the first three days of its release.

Research firm IDC says Samsung is dominating the smartphone market with a commanding 56.3% share in the third quarter of 2012. Apple trails behind with 26.9%.

"This marks the first time since 4Q09 that a single company held more than 31% market share in a single quarter," said IDC in a press release. "Samsung's growth was fueled in large part by its broad, deep, and refreshed Android portfolio, highlighted by the full quarter availability of its flagship model Galaxy S3."

Apple has been a consistent innovator in the field of smartphone and tablets, introducing devices which other manufacturers are widely accused of copying.

However, recent trends show that iPhone is struggling to compete with handsets running on Google's Android operating system.

Similar trends have been seen in the tablet market too, where Apple once led the way. IDC said that Apple's share in this market segment has also slid - from 59.7% last year to 50.4% this year. This, said the research firm, has much to do with people holding out for the iPad Mini, which at 7.9-inches looks to directly compete with the 7-inch tablet offerings from Google, Samsung and Amazon.