Nokia --- Used to be the best, but for a few years now, they have lost it. The competition has simply managed to match their best attributes --- RF quality, voice quality, sturdiness, reliability. Its not just the OS that's lagging, but their entire electronics --- outdated processors, small RAMs. Worst yet, when it comes to basic quality, they have slagged badly off compared to their products mid decade. They still make a few good products here and then, like the E7, C7 and N8, but nothing like their heyday at the time of the N95 and the E71, which I regard as their twin climax of their engineering.
Apple --- When it comes to hardware, they are just overrated. There is nothing in their products when it comes to battery life, sturdiness, RF quality, voice quality, that rises above the mediocre. They got a great display, a great touchscreen and a great OS which greatly eclipses the mediocre hardware design. Any phone that you have to protect with a case is really something you shouldn't buy.
Motorola --- Give these guys a break. They're the only ones among handset makers that supplies products to the US Military. They know something about reliability, quality control and most of all, radio engineering. I do think that somehow, despite their engineers, they suffer from a GMesque kind of management. They need focus and consistency, and approach their lineup like Honda or Toyota --- an approach that has worked very well with HTC.
Samsung --- They are the real monsters in the block. Compared to other companies, they are a real conglomerate. You know like those big evil corporations that seem to control much of the world in a Japanese anime cyberpunk series. They got manufacturing technology that is out of this world, one that easily puts Nokia and Motorola to shame. After all, no handset makers puts out LCD screens, their chips, except another megaconglomerate. Because of this, they are destined to kick out Nokia from the top spot sooner or later, whether its smartphone or featurephone or both. They currently has 24% of the US market --- nearly one out of four handsets sold in the US is a Samsung. Apple only has 7%. And Samsung supplies Apple with chips too.
LG --- the other megaconglomerate, but kind of like Avis to Samsung's Hertz. They make good stuff really, but somehow cannot live past Samsung's shadow. You can say its like Burger King to McDonald's. So they're trying, and trying, really hard. They make good all around equipment, but the problem is they lack enough pizzaz to make them stand out. So they're trying really hard with their latest smartphones. Even with Samsung on the lead, I believe LG is destined to be number two worldwide in global sales, kicking out even Nokia after Samsung pushes Nokia out from first. You know their level of technical and manufacturing expertise when it is Apple that sources their IPS Retina screens from them.
HTC --- a dwarf compared to the rest. But for years, they embarrassed Samsung by taking fourth place in the Smartphone race. Until recently. Among companies, they are one to be feared by Apple. They combine a flair in both physical hardware design and in software, something that LG, Samsung, and Motorola could not match. These guys deserve an entire OS on their own, but they just lack the resources for such, so taking Android and customizing it is their best approach. WP7 is a waste of time for these guys, because the strictness of the WP7 ecosystem prohibits them from expressing their sheer creativity. They got many useful ideas when it comes to UI design, one that continuously surprise me, and I bet even Google. I like these guys because they got a true startup feel, with the aggressiveness and leanness of a PC maker, with the true design sensibilities of mobile handset maker.
