This does not agree with my experience. In my work setting we need at times to take a picture of the same subject, for record keeping, each with his own device. When we compare those pictures side-by-side, my nearly decade old point-and-shoot Canon takes way better pictures than anybody's few-hundred $ contemporary phones.
Canon cameras have excellent lenses and some of the best digital sensors... my 8mp A630 takes better pictures than any other digital device I have and has tons of features and a full manual mode which makes it very capable at night or in very low light.