The original Samsung Galaxy S and Galaxy S II have sold over 30 million units around the world in the last two years. But if a report from the Korea Economic Daily is anything to go by, the Galaxy S III will beat them both with a metaphorical hand tied behind its backplate. They estimate that nine million units have been pre-ordered around the world, from over 100 carriers – and there’s still a week and a half to go before the first phones start rolling out to Europe.

A fervent response was certainly expected – after all, the Galaxy S III got at least as many leaks, fakes and outright fibs as any recent Apple product you’d care to name. Anticipation was at a fever pitch when Samsung finally made its London debut earlier this month, and while the design may leave some feeling a little disappointed, there’s no arguing with the specifications or software enhancements. For a full rundown on the Galaxy S III, check out our wrap-up post.

While there’s not a single US carrier that’s confirmed that the Galaxy S III will brace its network, there’s been some compelling evidence that the Big Four will all get their own version later this summer. A couple of leaks for the Verizon version in particular show the now-familiar combination of a Snapdragon S4 dual-core processor (as opposed to the quad-core Exynos on the international version) and an LTE connection. It’s likely that every major US carrier, with the possible exception of T-Mobile, will use this hardware configuration.

[device id=2435] [via SlashGear]