[HTC One S] Terminator19:
Firstly I have no buyers remorse about the one S, why would I? Got an amazing looking device that feels great for perceived and build quality, one of the best audio devices, amazing camera, sense V4 is great IMO, S4 processor that is better than the quad in the X and GS 3 (for performance per core, battery efficiency, heat), GPU is also very good, best battery life (excluding the rzr maxx) perfect size for a mobile device etc.

Also I don't defend it for everything, I defend it (and any mobile for that matter, even the iphones) when ever it doesn't deserve bashing in certain areas. TBF as well, those were the only things that the majority of review sites slated, storage and pentile matrix, they loved everything else about it.

I much prefer SAMOLED to LCd/IPS panel, better for battery, blacks are blacks (very important for me) and I like the vibrant colours, plus it is better for viewing in sunlight.

The biggest problem is also that HTC in some ways made the S the top end phone along with the X as the only areas where the X is better is the screen, more internal storage and NFC, everything else on the S is better, audio, performance, build and perceived quality, battery life etc.

Just look at my S review and you will see the disadvantages that I have listed, if I was defending it etc. then why would I even mention those cons?

Also no phone is perfect i.e. the GS 3 imo looks extremely ugly, not just the colour but the design and it looks cheap plus touchwiz is awful looking, only good thing about TW are the features like smart alert and smart stay etc. (and the majority of these features have already been ported to every other phone), those reasons alone are why I won't consider the GS 3.

You say about a non removable battery and keep mentioning the lack of storage (SD slot) for being 2 of the main reasons for the downfall of HTC, well the iphone doesn't have a SD slot and the battery isn't removable yet it still sells very well and far better than any android phone by itself. Out of all the people I know, no one really cares about a removable battery, could understand maybe if the battery life is crap like the X then you would have to carry a spare battery around. With my last phone (android phone as well), I never bothered removing the battery unless I had issues with boot loop etc. (from rooting and flashing ROMs etc.)

Also the GN has limited storage as well as the nexus 7, yet they still sell very well and the GN hardware is very lacking apart from the screen.

Lastly you seem to be forgetting the difference in price between the S, X and GS 3 and the "tag" that the S has been given "mid range".

Anyway, back on topic, it is largely due to brand promotion and marketing, nothing else. Yes with the sensation and GS 2, it was just simply down to the GS 2 being a far better device overall, however, that is not the case with the one X/S and GS 3 this time round.

Samsung have way more ads for the GS 3, nearly every channel here always has an ad for the GS 3 for every break where as for HTC I maybe see an ad twice a day and only ever for the X (what about the S and V?) Samsung ads are also far better than HTC's ads, they don't concentrate on all these hardware specs (which the majority of average joes don't care about) and have these ridiculous "uses" like a photographer taking photos and recording a video whilst free falling :confused:, instead they concentrate more on the software features and how it impacts day to day life, which the majority of people actually care about and this is exactly what apple do and is largely why they're so successful as well (samsung have taken a leaf out of apples book for marketing, but still not as good)

Why do you think apple are so popular, look at all the product placements in pretty much every single TV show and film there is, guaranteed there will always be an iphone and a mac book pro or something of apples. Nearly all the celebrities have an iphone. Look at the amount of hype there is for their products, the lines and lines of people queuing for the new iphone and every one going nuts and the hardware for their phones isn't exactly ground breaking and the software has looked pretty dated for like the last year now.

Yes some stuff like the locked bootloaders, delayed release of kernel source and all these different models will play a part in their downfall, however, again, only us on this site etc. who knows about phones specs. etc. actually care about this stuff, the "average joes" wouldn't care about it and they outnumber the "techies" by a VAST amount.

BTW the one s has a 4.3" screen.