There are a number of reasons demand for the new Samsung Jet mobile handset appears to be outstripping that of the new Apple iPhone 3GS, it has been claimed.

The iPhone 3GS is currently confined to O2 in the UK, which immediately makes the Jet more attractive for those that do not want to pay O2′s tariff, according to lead content writer for Mobile-Phones.co.uk Thomas Newton.

However, he added that the new iPhone 3GS is creating a huge amount of interest.

Following the release of the new iPhone 3GS, Apple announced that sales had exceeded one million in three days.

But Samsung claims that its new touchscreen handset will be the fastest on the market when it is released for sale, adding that pre-orders have reached two million.

Mr Newton added: "Many are still baffled by Apple’s decision to omit a flash for the camera, and so will want to go for a high-powered touchscreen with a better imaging solution."

However, he also noted that many owners of the older iPhone 3G are not currently able to upgrade to the new 3GS contracts straight away, because they are tied to 18-month contracts.

The speed of smartphones is not yet a major issue for customers, according to gadget news website Pocket-Lint.

There are other smartphone features, such as the memory available in an Apple iPhone, that are more important to mobile phone users, explained Pocket-Lint reporter Duncan Geere.

Mr Geere explained: "More appealing to consumers are internal memory, screen size and features, as well as the all-important interface and ease-of-use."

He added that "the speed of launching applications, switching between portrait and landscape mode, use of the camera, et cetera" are important indicators of the speed of a handset among consumers.

His comments follow research by research company Yankee Group, published on June 10th, which indicate that four in ten expect an advanced operating system handset to be their next mobile phone purchase.

The research also predicted that smartphone volumes will grow to 38 per cent of all handsets by 2013.

This represents one of the largest growth opportunities within the mobile devices sector and is shifting the relationship between device manufacturers and mobile operators.

More than one million of the new iPhone 3GS models have been sold since its launch at the end of last week.

Further underlining its popularity, Apple has also announced that six million iPhone owners have so far downloaded the new iPhone 3.0 software only five days after its release.

The iPhone 3GS is twice as fast as its predecessor the iPhone 3G and has a longer battery life.

Device owners also get access to more than 50,000 different applications and can take advantage of either 16GB or 32GB capacity.

Steve Jobs, Apple‘s chief executive officer, explained: "Customers are voting and the iPhone is winning.

"With over 50,000 applications available from Apple’s revolutionary App Store, iPhone momentum is stronger than ever."

UK distributor of the new iPhone, O2, announced on launch day (June 19th) that it expected to sell 50 per cent more iPhone 3GS handsets than it sold iPhone 3G devices on launch day last year.