Samsung's Galaxy Note 3 Ships 10 Million Units In Two Months

Galaxy Note 3 has set a new record for phablet sales after reaching a new milestone in just two months. According to

, Samsung has shipped 10 million units since the device was released on September 25. This is a notable improvement over the second-generation Galaxy Note, which was only popular enough to warrant shipments of

during the first two months. It took a full four months for Samsung to ship 10 million Galaxy Note II units to retail. The original Galaxy Note shipped an average of roughly one million units per month, achieving shipments of 10 million units within nine months. Shipment numbers are different from actual sales data, but retailers won't buy more of what consumers

want. By being able to increase the shipments for each Galaxy Note upgrade, it is safe to assume that Samsung's flagship phablet has become a very popular device. Many analysts and investors believe that phablets will be a critical part of the smartphone industry. While sales of smaller handsets still reign supreme, consumers are slowly replacing their standard smartphones with larger devices.

Virtually every major manufacturer -- including Nokia, LG, BlackBerry and HTC -- have released at least one large smartphone. Amazon has yet to release its first smartphone, but the company is rumored to start with one that features a

. That would push the device very close to phablet territory, which usually begins at around five inches. There was a report claiming that Apple would

to increase the screen size from four to 4.3 inches. This seemed like an unusual move for Apple, but it was thought to be part of the company's plan to gradually build larger smartphones. The rumor proved to be false, however. Not only was the iPhone 5S released in September as expected, it contained the same four-inch screen as its predecessor. Disclosure: