Samsung Galaxy S2 1-Ups iPhone 5 with 4G Treatment

Samsung has announced that its anticipated Galaxy S2 smartphone will get the 4G treatment, offering data speeds up to four times faster than what is expected in Apple's forthcoming iPhone 5.

South-Korea's largest consumer electronics maker said it will unveil the Long Term Evolution (LTE, or 4G) powered smartphone at Germany's IFA show this week.

Samsung Electronics saw explosive growth during the second quarter, primarily due to the roll-out of its venerable Galaxy S2 smartphone, and the addition of 4G will give it a distinct advantage over what is through to power the iPhone 5.

While unconfirmed, many analysts believe that Apple's next generation phone will forego 4G, believing the company feels the technology is too immature.

"[W]e continue to pick up indication that it will not likely incorporate 4G LTE due to battery life issues and spotty network coverage," said Sterne Agee's Shaw Wu. "And ironically, if anyone is in a position to fix these weaknesses, it would be AAPL."

This would afford Samsung an advantage , at least technically, as 4G networks allow data to download more quickly, making browsing the Internet and downloading content faster.

But it could hamper Samsung's already limited consumer reach.

While available in many parts of Europe, only Verizon in the U.S. currently offers support for the LTE standard. While Verizon is the country's single largest carrier, the combined numbers of the U.S. 3G is far larger.

Data is also pointing to not just one iPhone 5, but two releases , if Wall Street is to be believed -- one coming in the fourth quarter, and one shortly after.

The second iPhone, expected in 2012 would have 4G, essentially nullifying Samsung's first-come advantage.

Smartphone are seeing generally impressive growth, rising a healthy 76 percent annually to reach 110 million units in the second quarter, and both manufacturers are locked in fierce competition.

Samsung who saw the most astounding growth, propelling it to become the No. 2 smartphone vendor in the world.

In July the phone celebrated 3 million units sold globally, a number it achieved in just 55 days. It has also been the top seller for 17 consecutive weeks in United Kingdom where Samsung first launched Galaxy S2 and recently surged to rank No. 1 in Austria as well, in terms of Smartphone market share.

Despite Samsung's stellar growth, Apple so far retains the crown as the No. 1 smartphone vender in the world.