I hope that's true. I'd love to see increased competition. While I agree with you about Apple's shortcomings (been very vocal about what's lacking in both hardware and software), their branding is near unstoppable. And while Samsung's latest market share and profits reports aren't exactly glowing, are they really factoring in the S6/Edge success? I'd imagine as the year goes on, their reports will be be singing a different tune. I could be wrong though. Samsung's branding is also growing. I see commercials of the S6/Edge everywhere now. People are also talking about the new devices and are surprisingly well knowledged on what the S6 and Edge are about.
I do hope LG does well as I think they're one of the few that have the resources and gravitas to challenge Apple/Samsung. Motorola and Sony I'm not as confident. Motorola was acquired by Lenova last year and it'll be interesting to see how they handle future devices and releases. Won't this year's Moto X be the first true device released under their watch? While the Moto X series is charming and so far offer a decent device, they haven't really been making much of an impact. At least it doesn't seem so to me.
And while the Xperia Z3 (one of my favorite phones of last year; I came very close to getting one) has its strengths in battery life and waterproofing, Sony hasn't made much of a dent either in the competition. In fact, isn't Sony's mobile division in a bit of trouble? I know they're not giving up, but their latest still doesn't really induce confidence in buyers. And if they don't ever get their marketing going, they'll hardly make a dent either.
And we all know how HTC is doing/looking with the M9 (they just reported their worse April results).
Are there any other key players I'm missing? Don't get me wrong. I'm excited to see what Motorola and Sony and whoever else might bring to the table and hope they bring the heat.
Sony was in trouble, it is getting itself sorted now though, it seems to have a few new models planned.
But it absolutely needs to advertise, which it doesn't ever seem to know how to do?
They I think are going to come back as a major player one day, lots of people like their products and Sony's name is still trusted.
HTC are also doing well, and they do advertise quite a lot, they have a good TV ad campaign.
Apple we all know as you said is unstoppable with it's brand image and recognition and advertising.
LG also does advertise too.
Samsung has also advertised, has a good TV ad for the S6, but I see less of them around, although I think people who want Android do think Samsung?
As for Motorola, here in the UK? Don't think I see any of their phones? The majority are still Samsung and Apple but I do think Samsung at least are wavering.