Mid-range handsets may suffer in the run-up to Christmas, according to Ovum. They may end up being too middle of the road to many consumers in the UK (and in other territories as well).

They have predicted that a handful of phones in the high-end will survive the pressure, contradicting LG’s strategy to move away from top-tier phones and concentrate most of their energy on low-mid range type phones. Some other companies are doing the same, and it may not end up being the right move in the short term.

This includes the BlackBerry Storm and the Apple iPhone, which carry considerable brand appeal from customers all over the world. The likes of LG and Samsung are believed to lack the brand value and iconic status of the most popular high-end handsets in the UK, though many of their phones have most of the same features.

This view reflects comments made by O2 CEO Ronan Dunne, who said the market was polarizing between basic phone deal shoppers and very high-end gadget fans. This would be true to some degree even in the US. It’ll be interesting to see how the market gets divided up this holiday season. We have a feeling many companies not named Apple or Blackberry will be pretty disappointed.