Unfortunately it's a bandwagon effect. If you don't have the latest processor (and another major flagship does), you're behind, regardless of actual performance benefits.
It's not like when Intel's advertising told everyone they should feel bad if they didn't have a Pentium in their desktop boxes. If you ask people what processor is in their current phone, 99.99999999999% will have no idea.
I would say that the number of people on HN who buy a phone based on the processor is vanishingly small.
And this is not a trend that went unnoticed. A very expensive Digitimes market research papers tell that we had a very long and very pronounced trend of people who previously bought flaghship products downgrading to mid and low end products.
It's very visible in the Laptop market too. People now how are buying into a niche of laptops with weak CPU, but good large screens. Those were making killer sales for last 3-4 years.