By Michael Oleaga / m.oleaga@latinospost.com (staff@latinospost.com) | First Posted: Mar 13, 2013 05:44 PM EDT

Samsung has surpassed Apple in advertisement spending in 2012.

According to figures by Kantar Media, Samsung spent $401 million in advertisements in the U.S. The spending was used on television, print, billboards, and Internet ads.

Samsung's spending is more than the combined spending of the second and third place spenders spent.

Cupertino's Apple ranked second with $333 million in spending while HTC placed third with 36 million.

What is unique about the numbers, and in comparison to 2011, is Apple dominated the 2011 spending with $253 million while Samsung placed third with a small $78 million. HTC was second in 2011 with $124 million but their spending rates fell significantly in 2012.

Rounding up the top five for 2012 are BlackBerry and Nokia, respectively. BlackBerry's spending fell by $4 million in 2012. The organization spent $39 million in 2011 but spent $35 million in ads for 2012. Nokia's spending also decreased from $21 million in 2011 to $13 million during 2012.

In return, however, Strategy Analytics reported Apple topping Samsung as the top mobile maker in the U.S. during the last fourth quarter.

During the latest fourth quarter, Apple has sold 17.7 million mobile phones, and this number is not exclusive to the iPhone 5. The number of phones Apple sold represented 34 percent to Samsung's 32 percent. A narrow lead indeed.

Samsung's spending could increase further for 2013 as the South Korean-based company will be promoting the Galaxy S4 and Galaxy Note 8.0, both devices expected for a retail launch during the second quarter this year.

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