Samsung is slated to release the successor to its successful Galaxy Note in the next few months, a product that could help cement its lead in the smartphone market over its rivals, chief among which is Apple.

The Galaxy Note 2 has been rumored to pack a massive 5.5-inch screen that would dwarf the Apple iPhone 4S’ 3.5-inch display and even Samsung’s own Galaxy S3, which has a 4.8-inch screen. The hybrid phone/tablet is expected to be a scaled-up version of the Galaxy S3, and as such, would have very similar internal components, particularly a quad-core Exynos chipset.

Samsung has apparently scheduled an event just before the IFA trade show in Berlin to announce the Galaxy Note 2. Over 7 million units of its predecessor have been shipped to buyers even if it has been available for less than a year. Given the Galaxy Note 2’s characteristics, it could easily grab market share from larger smartphones or smaller tablets.

The South Korean firm is already the world’s largest manufacturer of mobile phones, kicking out the Finnish company Nokia from this long-held position. Analysts also note that Samsung has been taking a bite out of Apple’s market share.

Samsung sold 41 million smartphones compared to Apple’s 37 million in the first quarter of 2012, while a Reuters poll reported that the South Korean firm has further extended its lead in the second quarter, shipping 50 million phones to Apple’s 30.5 million.

The market share advantage is there, but it has to be said that Samsung’s margins are certainly far slimmer than Apple’s, since a significant proportion of these sales may be from the Korean firm’s mid-range or low-end models.