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That's the real key, it's popular because it's cheap, imagine trying to claim Chevy makes a better car than BMW because more people buy Chevy.

I don't know anybody who has a "cheap" Android phone. They are all SGS4, HTC One, etc. which are around the same price as the iPhone.

These phones represent a fraction of the overall android market, almost 1/3 of android phones are much cheaper devices still running 2.2/2.3, etc.

edit: Revised most to 1/3.

That's not true though.

http://developer.android.com/about/dashboards/index.html

Fixed that for you, 1/3 of android devices are still trapped <= 2.3

You should also revise "These phones represent a fraction of the overall android market" to "These phones represent the majority of the overall android market."

In markets where handsets are subsidized, it's no cheaper than an iPhone...

And around here, no one has cheap Android handsets - it's all Galaxy S4s, HTC Ones, and Note 2/3s...

Price is also part of the buying decision making process, e.g. choice.

The insinuation that always seems to follow this line of thinking is that the choice and popularity is made on technical merit alone.