Everybody knows that 3Ds MAX is VERY powerful 3D tool but why MAYA "sounds" so popular if MAX can do the same and sometimes even more?

Actually there is very big differences between the two Giants of Autodesk. and this question is one of the FAQ in our field.

Both applications can accomplish the same results. while each of them is aimed for different users.

Maya is the Giant in 3D Modeling and Animation Movies. Where it is the easiest and best ways and tools to do character animations and lips synchronization and related things.

While 3DS Max is the Giant in the Architecture and Civil Engineering Fields. Where it is the fastest to create a spiral stairs and adjust each stair color and depth easily.

Maya was developed by another company when Autodesk acquired it to keep it next to 3DS under the same Organization. Different teams. Different Developers.

hope that helped.

Well, I have been working for several years as 3d artist for architecture visualization , as a freelance and also into some companies,  and I have never met anybody working with maya. I have always heard that maya is much better for animation, but I cannot tell you.

3ds Max is a powerful tool. It is used in every industry such as movies, archtetural visulization, animation, visiual effects and the list goes own. It is a great modeling, texturing, animation, rendering and rigging. Customization wize is not as easy as maya. You need to know max script which is somthing not as pouplar as python which is used in maya

Maya is not as powerful but customization wize is the best. Yes, you can model, texture, rig, render and so on. Maya also is user friendly which is unlike 3ds Max. Also, you can use python to script and program effects, make rigging more flexable, and so on. Companies have invested so much time and money in custom scripts to make jobs more productive.

We can do modelling, texturing, Lighting, Animation ete in MAX and Maya both. But Maya is generally used for advance animation, rigging. 

3D max excels in modelling and high detail objects but lacks in the animation possibilities that Maya can offer.

As for popularity of Maya, the reason for that is that Maya's User Interface is much more user friendly to designers and "seems" easier to use.

maya is more popular for movies and 3d cartoon production because it has many features that facilitate the process of modeling for characters than 3d max , so maya sometimes more easier than 3d max 

3ds max is famous in doing architectural work in combination with autocade and some of people using 3ds max for visual effects because of the power of thinking particles 

but maya is more efficient in movie productions especially the shading system 

Maya "sounds" popular than 3D Max on my experience due to the following:

1- Maya has a friendly-UI where Max is more complex.

2- I have used Max for a while and I found it is hard to reach any specific tools the sofware provide in Maya it is much easier especially with the shelves the maya provides.

3- what Max can do, Maya can do it too. plus the the tools the max lack or does not have. Like it is commonly known Animating and Rigging in Maya is much easier.

4- Maya has a better Dynamics and fluid engine.

5- In the last couple of years, Maya had some plugins and libraries that made it a powerful tool, such as OpenSubDiv technology that was provided by Pixar (all maya versions after 2014 are built in with it), And RenderMan render engine also was provided by Pixar.

I'm Working at company that has 3D Artist using Max and Maya

Maya users always say that 3D Modeling and Unwrapping UVW in 3ds max is powerful than maya but maya is very powerful than max in Rigging , Animation , Dynamics

If you want to be 3D Modeler or Game Designer Use Max because many of games companies in all over the world using 3Ds Max in Games. in addition to Architecture.

If you wanna be Animator or Rigger or working in Cinema use Maya.

maya is for architecture a while 3ds max is for game character creation.

I would think that depends on price and marketting

Maya is mostly used a lot in US,  versus havn't seen a single person yet using 3DS

I think just like iPhone, Samsung Galaxy, and LG

The first two phones are so popular that no one actually sees the huge benefits in the third phone, even though it is cheaper and way better