Samsung says sales of Galaxy S II phones top 20 mln

SEOUL Feb 23 (Reuters) - Samsung Electronics Co Ltd , which emerged as the world's top smartphone maker last year, said on Thursday that sales of its flagship Galaxy S II topped 20 million handsets since its launch in April last year.

Sales of predecessor Galaxy S, introduced in 2010 and at the heart of bruising global patent disputes with arch-rival Apple Inc, exceeded 22 million, the company said in a statement.

Apple sold 93 million iPhones last year, nearly doubling sales from a year earlier, while Samsung raised smartphone sales nearly fourfold to 95 million, according to research firm IHS iSuppli. (Reporting by Miyoung Kim; Editing by Chris Lewis)