Samsung’s much-anticipated Galaxy S III smartphone is likely to be "thinner than ever" and will arrive in May this year, reports South Korea’s Electronic Times News.

According to the publication, the follow-up to the successful Galaxy S II device will be just 7mm thick, making it one of the thinnest smartphones on the market. Electronic Times News says the use of printed circuit board technology will allow the phone to be 1.9mm or 20 percent thinner than its predecessor.

Other features rumoured for the Galaxy S III include a quad-core processor, Super AMOLED HD screen and the latest Ice Cream Sandwich version of the Android OS.

Electronic Times News also reports that there will be several versions of the S III released in 2012, with one model touting a more powerful camera and another featuring 3D capability.

The array of new features will appear despite TechCrunch saying that Samsung had less time to develop the S III compared to the S II, which was released a year after the iPhone 4.

The success of the Galaxy line of smartphones saw Samsung beat  its 2011 sales target and briefly hold the position of the world's number one smartphone vendor by volume in the third quarter of 2011, before Apple resumed the title in the final quarter following the release of the iPhone 4S.