Everyone But Apple And Samsung Is In A Sad Race For Third Place

This week, an executive from LG told me his company is aiming for a "strong third place" in the smartphone wars.

I found that interesting.

It's the third time in the last few months that I've heard a major smartphone maker say it's aiming for the slot below Apple and Samsung.

BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins got a lot of flack from critics when he said it about his company's new mobile operating system, BB10. And one of HTC's North American presidents, Jason Mackenzie, told my colleague and I a similar story last fall.

It's understandable that the smartphone space is extremely competitive, but it seems odd that BlackBerry, LG, and HTC aren't aiming any higher than third. It's as if they're giving up before the fight is over.

It's not like these companies are cranking out junk either. The new BlackBerry Z10 is really good. HTC's top-tier smartphones are really good too, and its new flagship, the HTC One, looks amazing. LG's Optimus G is an underrated phone. And they're all pretty much on par with any of Samsung or Apple's phones.

The sad thing is, Samsung and Apple have the brand recognition and marketing budgets that the other guys can't match. It's an unfortunate reality for them that third place is probably as high as they can go.