Samsung: we'll match Jonathan Ive's Apple designs - Telegraph.co.uk

Samsung and Apple have developed an increasingly intense rivalry in recent years. Samsung's Galaxy S II handset is widely regarded is the best Android handset and the strongest challenger to Apple's iPhone. The company has supported the S II with a marketing campaign that pokes fun at Apple fans.

In October last year, Samsung announced that it had sold 30 million Galaxy S and Galaxy S II handsets worldwide. However, Apple has already outsold both handsets combined with just the iPhone 4S, which sold more than 37 million units at the end of last year.

Samsung was expected to launch the Galaxy S III next month but has said only that the new handset will launch "in the first half" of 2012. It is thought that the Galaxy S III will feature a 1.5ghz quad-core processor, 4.8-inch 1080p display, 2GB RAM and an 8-megapixel rear camera.

The new handset will also run Android 4.0, the version of the operating system that Google calls "Ice Cream Sandwich". Samsung made ICS available for the Galaxy S II earlier this week but the actual roll-out will depend on networks. Three has already released the update for its customers, for example, but Orange users will have to wait until next month.

However, though Apple and Samsung may face off in the courtroom over products, they work together behind the scenes. Samsung makes several parts for Apple's iPad, including the A5X processor, which is designed by Apple by manufactured by the Korean firm. The iPad display is also designed by Apple and built by Samsung.