If it does mean something then the Sony Z3 Compact and Samsung Alpha should be the best selling high-end Android phones of this release cycle. We'll see in 6-9 month if that turns out to be the case.
Except that Samsung has historically had a problem of releasing terrible non-flagship devices. Every Samsung generation has 9000 SKUs, and a decent proportion of those are low-end garbage that sabotages their brand. Consumers have figured out that the flagship devices are good, but once you start throwing suffixes around they get suspicious.
I'd wager that shoppers who would like a smaller phone would still by the latest giant Samsung flagship phone over the Alpha because of this effect.
Samsung are positioning the Alpha very much as a flagship device and pricing it in the same region as the S and Note devices.
The plan seems to have the S series for people who want the very cutting edge in specs, The Alpha series for people who want a compact high end phone with sleek design and the Note series for people who want a phablet styled device. Three different devices for three different audiences, but all are flagship devices in their respective segments.
There's more to it than that. My friends with Samsung phones have nothing but issues with the software; frequent reboots and horrible performance. Maybe it's simply because of their popularity that I hear about issues on Samsung phones, but regardless, I'll never buy a Samsung. I don't know much about the Sony. Does Sony do stock Android? Having as close to stock Android as possible is a major, major selling point for me. I would downgrade to a mid-range phone with stock Android over a higher-end phone with a custom skin or whatever.
