The smartphone wars are heating up and now we are hearing that Samsung and HTC flagship Android phones are flying off the shelves, leaving the competition in a cloud of dust.

Although high resolution screens, elaborate application processors and cameras tend to grab all the smartphone headlines, another change is starting to take shape under the bonnet of our favourite toys.

Samsung’s Galaxy S4 went on sale last week and it got relatively positive reviews, but many of them have also been pretty tepid.

Samsung has claimed that it is likely to run out of its new Galaxy S4s and is facing overwhelming global demand.

Anyone who thought that Intel might take years to catch up to ARM on the mobile front might want to think again.

Samsung's first 28nm SoC, the Exynos 5 Octa, is apparently capable of outpacing Qualcomm's Snapdragon 600 in AnTuTu, Geekbench 2 and Quadrant, the most popular Android benchmarks.

Troubled smartphone maker HTC is not giving in yet. It used the Samsung Galaxy S4 launch event to stage a guerrilla marketing event of its own. HTC can’t take on Samsung in a set piece battle or in a war of attrition, but it seems eager to fight on the landing grounds, in the fields and in the streets. The streets of New York that is. 

Apple may have redefined handsets with its revolutionary iPhone, but Samsung appears poised to take smartphones to the next level with its long-awaited Galaxy S4 (IV).