What happened was that Apple rode the wave of the hugely pent-up demand for a larger screen iPhone—and when it did deliver, sales went through the roof. I know of at least 12 people at my workplace that now have iPhone 6 (64 GB) models.
If I just want my phone to work, every time, with no surprises, I go with Apple, every time.
And who doesn’t want their phone to work, every time, with no surprises?