2024 was yet another great year for Android. Android became an even more dominant force in the market thanks to all the manufacturers who are creating hardware for that little green robot.
Samsung in particular had a stellar year and was, without a doubt, the best manufacturer in 2024. Not only did their Galaxy S III and Galaxy Note II dominate in sales, but in these phones, Samsung has really shown the world something that we all knew for a long time: there are other (and in my opinion, better) smartphones out besides the iPhone.
So with 2024 officially underway we can’t help but wonder whether or not Samsung will continue their dominance in the mobile market. My initial feeling is “of course, there’s no doubt about it.” But then I remember about all the phone that have already been leaked and I have to pause a little bit and reconsider. Let’s go through this manufacturer by manufacturer (well the major ones at least) and consider who might come out on top in 2024.
Samsung:
When thinking about who will be king in 2024 it’s really hard to bet against Samsung at this point. They’ve created a well known brand for themselves in the Galaxy series and they continue to churn out amazing device after amazing device. Their flagship devices, the Galaxy S III and Galaxy Note II have continued to dominate the market (and not just the Android market, the Smartphone market) and I really don’t see those sales slowing down.
In addition, rumours of the Galaxy S IV have already begun and it’s drawing a lot of people’s attention despite everything only being rumour at this point. I would go so far as to say that the S IV has about as much hype as the iPhone 5s/6 and that’s definitely something to be proud of.
The crazy thing with Samsung is that they still have a couple aces up their sleeves beyond the S IV. The Galaxy Note III will undoubtedly be a hit whenever that surfaces but the device that could really garner some attention is Samsung’s flexible display device. It would likely be the first of its kind and the “cool” factor alone could launch its sales.
The biggest challenge I see for Samsung in the coming year are lawsuits. As ridiculous as that sounds, that is their biggest hurdle at this point. They’re getting sued time and time again by Apple (and some others here and there) and that’s costing them time and money and energy. If they can get past all the legal battles and focus on innovation, there’s really no stopping them at this point.
HTC:
HTC has had a tough couple of years now. They were, without a doubt, my favourite manufacturer prior to the Galaxy S II but since then they have slowly and steadily fallen away. They’re by no means out of the race, but they do have some catching up to do.
2024 did bring two stellar devices, the HTC One S and One X and the recently launched Droid DNA seems to be a hit with our neighbours down south, but we were not lucky enough to get any version of that here. However, there’s already rumours swirling about a mysterious device called the HTC M7 that could bring us a version of the Droid DNA (or maybe something even better). From the latest rumoured specs I saw, that phone is going to be a beast and the screen is going to be out of this world.
HTC’s biggest ace up their sleeves this year, according to the company, is going to be the deal they struck with Apple recently to get the Cupertino company off their backs legally. Although details of the agreement are still very scarce, HTC claims that they will have more freedom than ever before in designing both hardware and software and that 100% of their energies can finally go towards their devices, rather than their lawsuits.
The biggest challenge I see for HTC in the coming year is going to be branding. They did start something with the “One” series but I don’t feel as though they really pushed it enough to create that ,oh so important, brand recognition. It’ll be interesting to see if they continue with that naming scheme or if they do yet another reboot, which could go either way. They better make sure they get some great marketers this year if they want to succeed.
Sony:
For me, Sony is that company that I want to see succeed so badly. I’ve always loved their designs but they never put together a total package that could rival the competition. In my opinion, their only device that really stole the spotlight in the Android world was the X10, which sadly was their first device as well. Since then I’ve consistently felt like they were behind the curve when comparing them to the competition.
Well for the first time in a long time I really think Sony could be on the right track. Their upcoming device, the Sony Yuga/Xperia Z has all the makings to be a winner that can pull people out of their current allegiances into the Sony camp. Absolutely everything in the phone, from the design to the processor to the camera, are top notch and can hang with the best of them.
The biggest advantage that Sony has is simply that they’re Sony. Everybody already knows Sony. People who have never bought a Smartphone before may not know HTC, but Sony is a name that many will feel that they can trust. I believe that in general people believe that a Sony product will be a good quality product that they can use without too much hesitations.
The biggest challenge I see for Sony is their software. From the very beginning with the X10, I haven’t been a big fan of Sony’s skin. In recent years things have definitely improved but at times I still do find their UI to be a little cluttered. Of course that can easily be rectified by the user with a third-party launcher but I’d love to see Sony put together a new sleek UI for their new phones.
Motorola:
Back in the day of flip phones Motorola was king. The RAZR remains one of the most iconic phone in cell phone history. However, in the age of Smartphones, Motorola has been, well, decent. The majority of their products have been good but I’ve always felt that they’ve lacked that “wow” factor.
In recent years Motorola has used the RAZR name to regain some of its form. Their new RAZR devices have been relatively well received, particularly the RAZR MAXX with it’s incredible battery life (sadly we didn’t get this phone either!). Despite the RAZR revival, I still felt that Motorola’s phone lacked the “wow” factor and their UI definitely wasn’t the best in the bunch.
With a new year comes new opportunity and Motorola has one huge advantage that no other company has, Google owns them. For the most part they have remained separate companies with Motorola not getting any special treatment from the parent company but if this changes at all, it could spell great things for Motorola. There is already a rumour that Motorola and Google have teamed up to create a possible Nexus device (or at the very least a new brand featuring a great big “X”) that could launch in early 2024. If this team up came into fruition my guess is that Motorola would immediately garner support from the dev community and those who like pure Android.
Their biggest challenge of 2024 to me is the same challenge that I’ve seen since they entered the Android race, finding or creating some sort of “wow” factor. Samsung and HTC have their screens, Sony has their camera, but Motorola just seems kind of…blah. The closest thing I’ve seen to a “wow” factor from them came from Verizon rather than Motorola when they launched the Droid campaign. Step it up Motorola!
LG:
LG likely has the most growing to do in the Android world. Prior to the last few months, nothing out of the LG camp ever really captured the attention of, well, anyone. I mean, they had a couple of decent devices here and there but how often did you hear someone say, “Have you seen that new LG device? It’s awesome!”
In the past couple of months LG has already made great strides in garnering attention. Their LG Optimus G had people drooling with it’s ridiculous specs (that sadly didn’t come into full fruition here in Canada) and sleek design. But the device that really brought them to the forefront was the Nexus 4. This device has been selling like hotcakes. Well actually it hasn’t been selling because they’re constantly out of stock! But that’s a good thing. The price point definitely has a lot to do with the attention but any attention is good attention at this point for LG.
With the new year underway LG’s biggest advantage is to cash in on the momentum of the Nexus 4 and Optimus G and it looks like they’re doing just that. The LG Optimus G2 could show up at CES this month and LG depending on how LG plays its cards, it could steal some attention away from the other flagships that likely won’t show themselves until February. This is a bit of a double edged sword though. Yes, it’s great that they’re pushing forward with another stellar device, but it could infuriate people who bought their original offering when their two month old phone is already obsolete.
The biggest challenge I see for LG is the same challenge I’ve seen before with them: software. Not just the UI, but software updates. LG doesn’t have a good track record when it comes to keeping their phones up to date and they also don’t have the most popular UI. Perhaps their time with Google in creating the Nexus 4 taught them a thing or two about software and updates. We’ll just have to wait and see.
The Other Guys:
So I’ve covered the main five manufacturers but there’s a bunch of new competition on the horizon, especially coming out of Southeast Asia. Companies such as ZTE and Huawei are coming on strong and could easily steal some of the market in 2024. So far we haven’t seen a lot of their stuff here in Canada but as they become a stronger force in Asis, it’s completely plausible that they’ll trek across the ocean to land on our shores as well. That spells some challenges for the main five guys.
All I can say is that 2024 is going to be a great year for phones!
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