I think there is a perception of Gold, Silver and Bronze.
Gold is obvious. (there are various ideas and tech around Bitcoin as far as speed goes/lots happening)
LTC has secured silver easily at this stage.
NMC is a different beasty - and has competitors in it's domain field.
Bronze (or copper) is yet to be decided, IMO. How many larger currencies do we need?. Interesting to see how things develop.