SEOUL: Samsung Electronics Co plans to unveil a smaller version of its popular Galaxy S III flagship smartphone in Europe on Thursday, the head of Samsung’s mobile business said, raising competition against Apple Inc’s new iPhone.

The model will be in direct competition with the iPhone 5, which was unveiled in early September and boasts a bigger, 4in screen than its earlier models.

Samsung’s original Galaxy S III, unveiled in late May, has a 4.8in screen. Strong sales of the flagship phone helped Samsung post record US$7.3bil (RM21.9bil) operating profit in the July-September quarter.

“We think there’s strong demand for 4in screen models in Europe,” a Samsung spokesman cited J.K. Shin, head of its mobile business, as saying on Wednesday.

There has been market speculation that Samsung would launch a stripped out, cheaper version of the Galaxy S III to win market share in the mid- to low-end smartphone segment.

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