Samsung has claimed three of the top four prepay sellers in the run-up to Christmas in a bid to reinforce its position as the number one manufacturer in the UK by volume, and they’re succeeding admirably. It seems many in the UK favor a prepaid scheme for their cell phones.

The three devices – the J700, E250 and G600 – are selling over 100,000 units in total every week, and have been for a little while now. Sales have been bolstered by the Tocco and U600 handsets, which are also bringing in strong prepay sales as well. It seems Samsung has found a niche.

It is a radical departure from Samsung’s previous reluctance to compete in the prepay market, and marks a new strategy to fight harder for every bit of market share, something they need to do in these tough economic times.

The manufacturer has cut its prices in a bid to hit key prepay price points with operator subsidy – £100 in the case of the G600 and below £30 for both the J700 and E250. The U600 is being pushed below £50, and Samsung has even gone as low as £10 with the B130, which is bottom line more or less, almost cost in some circles.

The manufacturer has seen its share catapult from 19% at the start of 2008 to over 30% as the year closes. We’ll keep an eye on this as Samsung launches a full offensive to grab the biggest slice of prepaid pie in the UK.