Steady on! What is an industry without competition, I for one am glad that Apple haven't still got the smartphone market all for themselves...
Android is a worthy alternative to the Apple kind, the main difference being that Android is simply the operating system (like windows) and many manufacturers make the hardware to run them on.
Android is (by os) the most popular in the smartphone industry, and Samsung has also overtaken Apple for market share in the sales of smartphones for the most recent quarter.
The quality of the hardware is vast in Android phones, which means you can indeed get a phone much cheaper than an Apple alternative. The high quality devices are however fantastic, and my phone the Galaxy S2 has been regarded as the best phone in 2011 over Apple's best offerings through many reviewers.