Tarmo Virki for Reuters:

Samsung Electronics Co Ltd increased its lead over Apple Inc and Nokia Oyj in the global cellphone market in the second quarter, helped by strong demand and large marketing campaigns for its latest flagship model, the Galaxy S III, according to a Reuters poll.

Samsung and Apple have been neck-and-neck for several quarters in the battle to be the largest smartphone vendor, but the May launch of the new Samsung model created a clear gap between the two, the poll of 41 analysts showed.

Of course, the poll is of analysts, whose numbers may be wildly off, so take it all with a grain of salt. Apple’s offerings are getting long in the tooth, even though they’re selling very strongly, so it’ll be interesting to see what happens later this year, ostensibly when Apple introduces a new iPhone model.