Forget Samsung, Motorola Could Be Apple Inc. (AAPL)’s Biggest Threat

Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) BlackBerry had attempted to beat back the Apple onslaught as early as 2008, rolling out its first touchscreen, the BlackBerry Storm, to compete. But the Storm failed, and so BlackBerry was forced to rethink its strategy. It’s too early to say if BB10 will be a success, but it seems like a much better effort.

Now, Motorola seems to have followed BlackBerry’s example. In addition to the Moto X, Woodside said that the company would be reinventing its entire product line in the months ahead.

The bottom line is that the iPhone is really facing the most challenging market in its history.

Samsung is even worse off

Arguably, Samsung is in an even worse position than Apple. Last summer, its Galaxy S3 was unanimously seen as the best Android smartphone. Now, many people see the HTC One as being the better device, and soon, Samsung will be forced to compete with Motorola.

Samsung does have a big advantage in terms of both name recognition and budget, but consumers should ultimately migrate to the best product. And because they all use the same ecosystem, Samsung is actually more exposed to Android rivals — switching between Android phones is far less painful than migrating from the iPhone.

A competitive smartphone market

Without seeing the Moto X, it’s too early declare it a success. But it sounds like it could be a great device. More broadly speaking, it’s just another example of how competitive the smartphone market is becoming. That’s not good news for Apple, and it could be even worse for Samsung.

But with both Apple and Samsung gearing up for new products, there’s reason to be hopeful. But with so much new competition, neither company should expect the smartphone market to be as profitable as it’s been in recent years.

Joe Kurtz has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Apple and Google. The Motley Fool owns shares of Apple and Google.

The article Forget Samsung, Motorola Could Be Apple’s Biggest Threat originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Salvatore “Sam” Mattera.

Salvatore “Sam” is a member of The Motley Fool Blog Network — entries represent the personal opinion of the blogger and are not formally edited.

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