Battle for No 3: Xperia Z vs HTC One vs Nexus 4 vs Lumia 920 vs Z10

Samsung Galaxy S4 and Apple iPhone 5 lead, but the battle for the No 3 smartphone just got fiercer

While Samsung’s Galaxy S4 and Apple’s iPhone 5 (and the upcoming iPhone 5S) battle it out for the top honours in the smartphones race, something remarkable is happening in the battle for the No. 3 slot.

That battle, it seems, is fiercer than the one being fought by Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Samsung (NASDAQ:SSNLF) for the top slot.

For, while there are (right now) just two contenders for the crown of the king of smartphones, the battleground for the No. 3 slot is getting ever-crowded, and as you read this, there are five very serious contenders for that slot, vying for each other’s market share.

Those contenders include, in no particular order, the water- and dust-resistant Sony Xperia Z, which is taken the market by storm in the past three months. Then there’s the all-aluminium-bodied HTC One, which most critics agree is the best smartphone in the market at present, but that could change with the imminent launch of the iPhone 5S in the near future.

Another contender in the race for the No. 3 slot in the smartphones domain is the Windows 8-powered Lumia 920, boasting PureView camera technology. It’s been losing ground to newer launches, but has been steadily gaining ground in emerging markets, especially India, where numbers get bigger due to the sheer size of the market.

Also in the reckoning is the BlackBerry Z10, which supposedly helped bring its parent firm back from the dead. While it was bogged down by initial reports of a supply constraint, the company has since followed it up with the launch of the Q10, which too is in competition against its full-touchscreen sibling for the No. 3 smartphone slot.

Read More