SAMSUNG Philippines’s newly launched low-end handset running on Google Inc.’s Android operating system is its fastest selling model to date, an official said at Tuesday’s launch of Samsung Galaxy Y.

Samsung, according to its product marketing head Coco Domingo, has so far sold 10,000 of its first affordable Android smartphone. 

“It was launched two weeks ago. We didn’t expect that it would sell like hotcakes. It is our fastest selling model so far,” he said. 

The Samsung Galaxy Y runs on Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system. It is sold for P5,999 each.

“Y stands for youth. We are targeting the youth because for one, the handset is very affordable. We know that students earn from their allowance so we don’t want them taking three years before they could buy their own phone. Second, the size is extremely small enough to be carried around,” Domingo said.

Samsung sees the Galaxy Y reaping rave reviews as it is the first to offer a “budget smartphone.”

“We see more growth. In fact, we are seeing that it would sell three times as much as the current set up,” Domingo said, when asked if growth can be sustained toward the end of the year.

Galaxy Y offers more than 300 apps, 60 percent of which are offered for free.  

“The Samsung Galazy Y is packed with all the smartphone essentials, raising the bar in mobile phones that come in the same price range,” he said.

Samsung is currently No. 2 in terms of market share in overall mobile-phone sales but “we are the market leader in terms of smartphones,” Domingo said.